Final Fantasy 9: One ED of a story
by Kirby ATW
Summary: The Eds take part in the action packed story that is FF9, from beginning to end. Whats this? TWO new chapters?
1. One ED of an Experience

Hello, Author Kirby here. It's been quite a while since I actually wrote a story, so I decided to put my thoughts together and write... a crossover. As the title should have hinted, this is a complete crossover of the Ed's and Final Fantasy 9. (Which I have just gotten back into, and realized the awesomeness that it is) I do realize there is another fic like this buried under everything... hence why I'm bringing the concept back too, with a bit of a fresher kind of... err, tone. This fic will tell most of the tale from start to finish with our favorite three people inserted into it. None of the dialogue in this fic will be the same as the game, due to the fact that that would be impossible to manage. I WILL however, stay along the storyline as best as possible, so if you are playing and don't want to have anything spoiled for you, then please... play the game, then read this fic. ;-). Anyways, that about covers all I want to say. So, a few more quick notes, then the story starts.  
  
Disclaimer: Please note, this will be the only chapter this will be put in, as it is going in the summary too. I do not own Ed Edd n' Eddy, nor the Final Fantasy series. Trust me, if I did, I wouldn't be here.  
  
Quick symbol reference. - Just an easy way to tell what symbols mean what.  
  
"Text" means someone is verbally speaking.  
  
Text means an action or sound.  
  
(Text) means a person in mentally speaking.  
  
-Text- means the narrator is filling in some of the story.  
  
[Text] means this is a side note that may have a bit of extra info.  
  
{Text} means this is a side note with no relevance to the story.  
  
------- Means a scene change. I will tell you where the scene changes.  
  
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Prologue-One ED of an experience.  
  
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"EDDY PLEASE, WAIT! ED DIDN'T LOSE YOUR MONEY!" Edd pleaded, hanging on to Eddy's shirttail, and being dragged across the pavement like a water-skier.  
  
"AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW MR. I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT KNOWING ABOUT MY MISSING QUARTERS?" Eddy shouted back, still trying to get to Ed, who was sitting on his lawn, and making hand puppets out of grass.  
  
"And little Betty gets the seat on the right. Hello little Betty!" Ed exclaimed happily as he slipped a crudely make grass figure over his thumb. Of course... Ed was completely oblivious to Edd and Eddy's little quarrel, like always.  
  
-Yep, it was another normal day in Peach Creek. Eddy thinking of a scam, it either failing miserably, or working like a charm and then somehow losing all of their hard earned cash. It happened to be the latter of the two today, and unfortunately to everyone else, Eddy had made 20 bucks today. So of course he was going to be mad when he heard that SOMEONE had lost all of it. Eddy, of course, pointed to Ed... but Double-D happened to know exactly what had happened. It was just a matter of calming Eddy down, which was nearly impossible now. -  
  
Eddy suddenly stopped moving and turned to Edd "YOU KNOW SOMETHING, DON'T YOU" he stabbed at Edd, who was now backing away slowly, sweating Niagara Falls.   
  
Eddy was absolutely fuming. "Really Eddy, what uh... gave you that crazy idea." Edd stuttered, still looking for a place to hide. He turned around and began to sprint at his measly 4 mile per hour pace towards his house. But, Eddy managed to dive in front of him, and blocked the front door. The chase continued around the whole Cul-De-Sac until a quite tired Edd collapsed in front of Ed.   
  
Ed looked up from his grass puppets and looked at Double-D. "You know, I think you need a new pair of shoes Double-D, then you could run faster and not collapse like you always do." he said, and promptly took off one of his shoes and stuffed it on one of Edd's feet. Edd's pupils went extremely tiny and he shot up and began jumping around trying to kick the shoe off. "GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!!"   
  
"See, you can run faster already!" Ed said with his goofy grin. He began chasing after Edd, who couldn't quite get the shoe off, and Eddy, [Who we forgot about for a minute there] began chasing the both of them. Their chase wound up taking them into the forest. Deeper and deeper they all went until they all collapsed from exhaustion.  
  
"So... do you... know where... my money... is Double-D" Eddy gasped out. Edd could only respond with a shake of his head.  
  
Eddy groaned at that motion. "So why... did we... do this... again?" he asked nobody in particular.  
  
Edd looked like he had just run a marathon. This time, you could really say he was sweating Niagra Falls "So... tired... utterly... unbearably... tired." Edd gasped, until he finally passed out.  
  
Eddy's eyes opened wide. "Wait... don't... pass..." That was all Eddy could get out before he passed out too. [Bad news for Ed, huh?]  
  
-Ed was all alone in the middle of the forest, with both of his friends out cold, and the sun was going down for the day. So what does he do... he sits down, and sssssllllllllooooooooowwwwwwwllllllyyyyyyyy his brain begins to work. -  
  
Ed's eyes looked from Edd, to Eddy, to the forest around them. "I think this is bad." he said to himself, already recovering because he hadn't chased Eddy and Edd around the Cul-De-Sac earlier. (Maybe I should find a place to sleep for the night) he thought. He slung Edd and Eddy over his shoulders and began to search for anything, a hole, a log, a tree. His search finally brought him to an abandoned oak tree. It was quite sturdy and had big branches in its canopy. (Now I need to climb up.) His one-track mind processed.   
  
-Slowly, with determination... he inched his way up the tree. Halfway up, one of the branches gave way. He fell off, landed on the hill, and began tumbling all the way down with Edd and Eddy in tow. He kept rolling and finally came to a stop near a log. Ed looked around, shrugged and picked up Edd and Eddy again. He turned around, and tripped over his shoelaces, which had come entangled when he had rolled down the hill.-   
  
"Oops..."Ed mumbled.  
  
-Over the log he went, and into a hole he fell. Falling... falling... falling... even more falling... still falling... almost done falling... and with a thud, Ed crashed into a big wooden pole, along with Edd and Eddy. Ed began to get very dizzy. The last thing he saw before passing out was a strange looking group of people with funny clothes. -  
  
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Prolouge End  
  
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Well, there's how they got to the world of FF9. Chapters are going to vary in length, depending on how much I can write between sections of the game.  
  
Coming up in the first chapter, "Care to answer a few of my EDs?"  
  
Next chapter: Ed's meet the Tantalus group on their airship, and get a bit of info on what they are doing. Then they unwillingly prepare for the play.  
  
R&R... do not flame. It is a nasty habit :P  
  
AK, over and out. 


	2. Care to Answer a Few of My EDs?

Author Kirby here. Thank you to my first reviewer, Da U.C.(). Don't worry about me over characterizing the Eds. They will change a bit throughout the story. There will be no pairing going on throughout the story either. I never really like it, and I can't write it either. Oh, and I'm not re-naming Garnet to Dagger. I always found that a bit silly. You'll just have to see what she is re-named to after the ice cavern.  
  
Believe it or not, I have the next five chapters in draft form right now, so all thats left to do is fix them up a bit and correct a few details. Yes, I've been on a writing spree.  
  
Disclaimer: IN THE SUMMARY DUH!  
  
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Chapter 1: Care to answer a few of my EDs?  
  
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-Blackness, that's all Edd saw. He had no idea what time it was, where he was, what day it was, and namely why he got there. Everything seemed to be a blur to him, and he was already so comfortable. He felt like he was drifting away... far away, on a boat... gently rocking of a boat... Wait a minute, he WAS rocking. -  
  
Edd's eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring straight into the face of a bucket of icy cold water.  
  
"YAAA!" Edd shouted and cowered up on the weird mattress he was on. "DON'T SPLASH ME I'M AWAKE!!!!"  
  
"Geez, took ya long enough. You've been out for about 2 hours now." Came a voice he didn't recognize. Edd looked up quizzically to see whom this man was. Just a few feet away, stood a bearded man, just a few inches taller than him. He had a hammer in one hand, and a bucket in the other. On the wall stood another guy with an interesting hairdo, and a red bandanna on his head. He was leaning against the wall with the classic 'I'm the bomb' pose. The one with one foot down, another foot on the wall, and arms folded with eyes closed. Next to him was another guy with a brown bandana, and a thieving looking sword. All of them were now staring at Edd due to his outburst.  
  
The guy with the hammer looked a bit confused. "Geez, calm down will ya. I'm not gonna hurt you" he said   
  
"Its your face Cinna, you always wind up scaring people with that ugly mug of yours" mocked the pointy haired guy.  
  
"Shut up Blank, that joke is getting old," replied Cinna  
  
"Somebody's a bit touchy today, aren't they?" taunted the guy with a sword.  
  
"The same for you too Marcus" Cinna replied.  
  
Edd sat up on his bed. (Oh boy, what a crowd) he thought to himself. "Err, excuse me fellas... but where exactly are my friends?" he asked.  
  
Blank got off the wall and pointed to the door next to him"You mean big and goofy, and short and yappy, they're in the other room." he replied. "They woke up about an hour ago." Edd hopped out of bed and burst through the door into the next room where Ed and Eddy were playing cards on a table in the middle of the room. [Or at least attempting to.] Ed was holding his cards backwards so that Eddy could see everything Ed had.  
  
"Your turn Eddy" Ed said, laughing like his usual self.  
  
Eddy sighed to himself. "Okay Ed... I think I'll take... this card" he said, stifling his laughter and taking the 3 of clubs from Ed. "Well what do you know Ed, I win again." he announced with an air of false amazement.  
  
Ed looked at his hand, then Eddy's cards, and a look of triumph filled his face. "Not this time Eddy" he giggled, and layed down his cards. "See, 5 of a kind, I WIN!" He said and began dancing around the room. He spun around... and around... and around... then crashed right into Edd.  
  
Ed gasped. "Double-D, you stopped being passed out!" he exclaimed, and embraced Edd in a big, bone-crushing, Ed hug. Blank, Cinna, and Marcus walked through the doorway at that moment, and had to stifle their laughter at the sight they saw. Edd began to blush, and Eddy was attempting to separate the two Eds.  
  
Eddy grabbed Ed's ear and pulled him away from Edd. "Would you get off him you big lump!" he growled.  
  
Blank sighed. "Is he like this all the time" he asked still chuckling a bit.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes" Commented a very squashed Edd, who was finally loose of the 'hugging monster'.  
  
"It was weird, ya know. You guys just kinda fell out of the sky. What happened, you fall off your airship or something?" questioned Marcus.  
  
Edd thought for a second and then shook his head. "Err, no. I can't exactly recall anything that happened earlier." he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Eddy, you remember anything?"  
  
"Nope... not sure about Ed though." He said flatly. "Though you can never be too sure about Ed, the big lump."  
  
Ed held out his hand. "I have five fingers... they want to say hi to you guys!" Said Ed with his usual grin. Edd and Eddy sighed.  
  
Eddy piped up a bit. "So... where exactly are we. I KNOW this isn't anywhere we have been, and trust me, I've been places." he said, with a hint of pride.  
  
"Well, currently, were flying towards South Gate. We're going to slip through because the security sucks there, and then go to Alexandria where the band of thieves, Tantalus, that us, is going to put on one of Lord Avon's most famous plays, 'I Want to be Your Canary.' From there, were going to secretly kidnap the most beautiful person in the land, Princess Garnet. After that, we get the heck out of there before anyone misses her." Relayed Marcus. "Unfortunately, the three of you just threw a huge wrench in the works by showing up. The whole operation could be compromised!"  
  
Cinna put his hand to his head and sighed."Marcus, you worry too much" he said. "And you really need to stop telling people about our plans. thats how we were ruined last time."  
  
"Okay, first of all, I've never heard of any of the places you've talked about, and trust me, I got a 110% on my world geography quiz, so I know that none of these places exist." Stated Edd. "Secondly, you guys should be ashamed of yourselves for taking up the life of crime. Thirdly, who is Lord Avon, and lastly, what's an Airship?" he asked in a commanding tone.  
  
"Avon sounds like someone from the beauty department or something" Eddy said.  
  
Ed's eyes went wide. "NO! NOT THE BEAUTY DEPARTMENT. I DON'T WANT TO LOOK PRETTY EDDY!" he yelled and curled up in a corner.  
  
Edd walked over to Ed and patted him on the head. "It's alright Ed, there's no beauty department around here."  
  
Eddy folded his arms and sighed. "Ed, there's no beauty department around here." he said flatly. Ed finally uncurled himself and came back to the group with Edd.  
  
"Well that was very nice of you Eddy" said Edd.   
  
Eddy frowned. "I only did it so I could get on with my life."  
  
Cinna spoke up again. "Now, back to answering your questions, you guys are on the Mist continent. South gate is a passageway between the two neighboring regencies of Lindblum and Alexandria. Airships can fly through this gate for easy access between the two areas. Alexandria and Lindblum are two of the four regencies of the Continent. There's Alexandria, Lindblum, Bermecia, and Cleyra. We've lived together in harmony for quite a while, but the Regent Cid wants the Princess of Alexandria to come and stay with him for a while. Ever since the King died, the queen has been acting strangely, and Cid vowed to protect Garnet at all costs. So Cid arranged for us to go kidnap the princess because direct action may cause a war, and we REALLY don't want that." He finished.  
  
Blank took the floor from here."From where he left off, we don't really care that we are so called 'criminals'. And if you guys can't even remember Lord Avon, you REALLY must have hit your head hard. He is renowned throughout the continent and possibly the world... if there is anything out there."   
  
Edd looked suprised "You guys haven't been able to leave the continent yet?" he asked. "Why can't you just fly there?"  
  
"Our engines are powered by mist, and outside the mist continent... there is no mist. So there really is no way to see if anything is out there," replied Marcus.  
  
"How about by boats then?" Eddy asked, almost sounding like he was stating the obvious.  
  
Cinna scoffed."Are you kidding me? There's no way we could ever get enough people to go and explore any of the outside world by boat. Lots of people get seasick for some reason. Its really weird." he replied.  
  
{Anyone noticed I forgot about Ed... oh, he will make his star appearance here soon}  
  
"Oh... so what is this mist you guys are talking about. It is like water vapor?" Edd asked.  
  
"No way. Mist is the substance that monsters are spawned from. We don't know where it comes from, all we know is that it's been here since... well... forever." Crash  
  
-All heads turned towards Ed who had just crashed into a big pile of trunks. All five of the people present had forgotten about him for the moment, and as Edd and Eddy knew, that spelled certain disaster. The trunks toppled down and clothes and costumes spilled out. -  
  
Edd slapped his forehead."Oh... darn it. Eddy, we completely forgot about Ed." He said as he rushed over to dig Ed out from under the multitude of costumes.  
  
Blank's face filled with anger. "Great, it took me forever to organize that stuff." he yelled. "Oh well, come over into this room you guys. I think I have a way for us to work our plan back to perfection, and it's going to take the whole 3 hours we have left to do it." he said, and walked into the other room. All of the other people soon followed, and the six of them were in a slightly cramped space.  
  
Blank was digging around in a box when the rest of the people entered. "Well... I'm going to have to use you guys somehow." Said Blank. He dug around in the box some more and brought out a very long pole with a trident on the end. "I'm sure you guys have seen a lance before, right?" he stated. There was a murmur of 'Yes' from the Eds. "Good. Now let see... uh, you short dude, what's your name again?" he shot.  
  
"Eddy, what's it to ya" Piped Eddy.  
  
Blank sighed. "Don't push your luck Eddy. I'm only giving this to you because we are short a few actors." he stated. "You... are going to be extra fighter number 1. He has very few lines, and all you have to do is 'pretend' fight with the other soldiers in the play." Explained Blank, and handed Eddy the lance. "Marcus will be teaching you how to use that thing PROPERLY, in the next room." He added. Marcus and Eddy filed out into the previous room where clangs could be heard.  
  
Blank dug into the box some more. "You... tall and goofy." he ordered.  
  
Ed smiled. "My name is Ed, hello."  
  
Blank sighed even harder. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you are going to have to help kidnap the princess. You are the only one here big enough to fit into a suit of armor, plus we will probably need another lookout." (I know I'm going to regret this.) He thought.  
  
Ed jumped up. "You can count on me Mr. Weird guy with hair" Said Ed happily.  
  
Blank pulled out a big broadsword from the box. "Cinna, please teach him to use a sword, and make sure nothing gets broken" he ordered.  
  
Cinna jumped up. "You got it. Come on big guy" he said, and strolled into the next room. Ed shortly followed, and even more clanging could be heard.  
  
Ed was the only one left in the room besides Blank now. "Alright wise guy" said blank.  
  
Edd looked up. "Err... yes. I'm Edd, but you can call me Double-D" Edd said nervously.  
  
"Yeah sure... listen, I need you to keep tabs on the Queen and the knights from the nobles booth. If you stay in back, you should have a great view of the royal booth. Once you see me get up next to the princess in my disguise, get back to the ship as fast as you can." Ordered Blank, now digging through the weapon box.  
  
Edd smiled a bit. "Seems easy enough. A simple stealth mission. I've watched enough spy movies in my day." he commented.  
  
Blank cocked his head, looking a bit confused. "What's a movie?" he asked, and tossed Edd a wooden staff.  
  
Edd looked suprised. "Err... its kinda like watching a moving picture, with sound. It usually tells a story." he explained. (Man, it seems like we really ARE in a different world.)  
  
Blank shook his head. "Weird... alright. I'm giving you a staff because you don't look like you could handle a very high-caliber weapon like a sword or a lance." he said. "There may be an ability on that staff, but I can't be too sure."   
  
Edd frowned a bit. "I'm a bit insulted that you doubt my talents, but what do you mean by abilities?" Asked Edd.  
  
Blank sighed. "When you first pick up a weapon, it may have an ability on it, depending on how well it was crafted. Most weapons have very basic abilities on them, like block or guard, but some may guard against other things, like poison, or confusion guard." he explained. "If you want to know if something has an ability on it, you need to hold the weapon and try and 'feel' for the ability. If you find something on the weapon, you may be able to learn it. It usually only takes 1 or 2 minutes to feel for an ability once you get the hang of it, and the more you do it, the faster it will come. I think the record for ability finding is about 15 seconds." He said, and walked towards the door. "Why don't you see if you can find anything on that old rod." offered Blank, and he walked out the door.  
  
Edd picked up the staff and held it in both hands. (Now, he said to... feel for the abilities, right) He thought. (Well here goes nothing) Edd sat there for a minute... then a couple minutes, 10 minutes... 15... finally, he felt something.  
  
(Hang on... whats this?) Edd thought, a bit exhausted. (Fire... Blizzard... and Thunder? Interesting.)  
  
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-The clanging continued as the two Eds battled the three other thieves. Ed and Eddy weren't exactly the best fighters, but they sure improved over time. During the course of the 3-hour trip, the Eds managed to learn how to do basic attacking, dodge, and even block. The two Eds even managed to take on Marcus, Cinna, and Blank, and win. Now how is that for improvement? -  
  
everyone was panting and exhausted when they finally stopped. "Dang you guys are fast learners. You sure you haven't ever done this before." Blank asked.  
  
"Nah, the closest thing to this I've ever had was my moms broomstick, and that cant be a very handy weapon." Admitted Eddy. He was having the time of his life with his lance. It almost seemed like it was a part of him.  
  
Ed was entranced by his sword. "Its so shiny... can I keep it?" Ed smiled.  
  
Marcus chuckeled a bit. "Go ahead, we have plenty of those for some reason." Marcus commented.  
  
Eddy snapped out of his thinking to ask a quick question. "Is there anything else we can do?"  
  
"Actually, there is one more thing I need to teach you how to do." Answered Blank. "I need to teach you guys how to learn abilities."  
  
Eds face lit up. "You mean like run and jump and play and sing and dance and sleep and swing and slide and..."  
  
"Ed" Eddy interrupted.  
  
"Yes Eddy?"  
  
"WOULD YA BE QUIET FOR A MINUTE?"  
  
"Okay Eddy" Said Ed, and he plopped down on the ground. "My lips are sealed."  
  
"Finally. Keep going Blank" instructed Eddy.  
  
"Sure." Said Blank. "Abilities are important things here. When a weapon is made, is should have a number of abilities on it, depending on how it was crafted. The sword that Ed has and the lance you have may or may not have an ability or two on them. To see if there are any abilities on a weapon, you need to kinda feel for them. Just hold the weapon in your hands, and just try and think about abilities on the weapon. If it has any, you should be able to learn one of them. Go ahead and try it" he offered.  
  
Eddy shrugged. "I got nothing better to do, I'm game." He said and sat down, only stopping to nudge an absent minded Ed next to him. "Come on monobrow." The two Eds sat there for a while, looking around for their abilities. Finally after about 10 minutes they both found something.  
  
(Hmmm... wait a sec. Double Strike? Could this be it?) Thought Eddy.   
  
(Hello? Hello? Hello? Anything here... wait... you have an ability for me? Counter? Cool! Thank you, good bye!) Thought Ed.  
  
"We think I found something!" Ed and Eddy announced simultaneously.   
  
Marcus looked up. "Nice job guys. Anyways, we should get ready for the play. Into the next room" he said. The five guys filed into the room that Edd was in. Cinna extinguished the lamp and then went into the other room.   
  
-Little did they know that a mysterious figure was just outside the door. He opened the door and strolled in.-  
  
"Dang its dark in here. Cinna must have extinguished the lamp again." Said the person. He took out a match and struck it, lighting up his face. He had blonde hair and a very interesting feature. A monkey-like tail whipped around behind him. He strolled around the room until he found what he was looking for.  
  
"Finally!" He said.  
  
--------------------------Room with all of the other characters. --------------------------------  
  
Edd looked up. "What was that" he asked after hearing something in the other room.  
  
Cinna looked up too. "I dunno. Probably Zidane. Ill go check" he said and opened the door. He came face to face with the same monkey man from earlier. "Zidane, how ya doing? Enjoying the fact that you are LATE AGAIN?" Cinna spat.  
  
Zidane shrugged. "Geez, I'm not the late one Cinna, where the heck is the boss." he replied.  
  
"No idea, the boss hasn't shown up for hours. Nobody has seen him." Blank said.   
  
"Dang... he had better... who are they?" Zidane pointed at the three Eds, who were standing behind the thieves.  
  
Blank looked behind him at the three Eds. "Oh, these are our unexpected visitors. Were going to have to keep them with us, otherwise they might blab our plan to the whole world." he introduced them. "This is Ed, Edd, and Eddy." he said, pointing respectively.  
  
"Well, great to know ya. I'm sure Blank has handled everything... right" Asked Zidane.  
  
Blank gave a thumbs up. "You know it Zidane." Replied Blank  
  
"Now... where is the" CRASHROAR  
  
Zidane didn't have time to finish his sentence the door upstairs was kicked open, and a dragon like person carrying a sword jumped in.  
  
Eddy groaned. "Oh boy, what now?" he asked.  
  
"We fight, what else?" Replied Zidane. Each of the fighters prepared to battle.  
  
The dragon made the first move and came after Ed. Ed had a little idea of what to do, so all he did was block with his sword. The swipes from the dragon didn't come too quickly, but it was enough to wear Ed down a bit.  
  
"Ed, you have to attack!" shouted Edd. Edd nodded his head and blocked another swipe. Eventually one of the blows hit him and he backed up a bit, only to propel himself foward to slice at the enemy. The hit was clean and the monster backed off. It ignored Ed and instead went after Eddy.  
  
"Nice counter Ed" complimented Zidane, and went for a back attack, along with Blank and Marcus. Eddy swiftly ducked and dodged the swipes from the monster to buy the other guys some time. Finally, Zidane, Blank, and Marcus sliced at the dragon. He got down knocked down, but kept going after Eddy.  
  
"Oh no you don't, DOUBLE STRIKE!" Eddy shouted. He blocked another blow, and then bashed the monster with the hilt of his lance, knocking him down, but before he could get up again, he sliced him with the tip of the lance. The dragon doubled back, and charged Edd, who was sitting near the wall. He seemed to be thinking, and didn't see the dragon coming right for him.  
  
"DOUBLE D, WATCH OUT!" Ed shouted as the dragon got closer. Edd looked up, and sighed. (Lets hope this works.) he thought.  
  
"FIRE!" Edd shouted. A jet of flame burst forth from the tip of the staff and began to burn away at the 'skin' of the dragon. (Did I do that?) Edd thought to himself. (That was incredible... almost like magic. That did take a bit out of me though... man am I tired.)  
  
-After a few seconds had passed, the mask on the monster was completely burnt away, revealing a big man with an interesting pinkish beard-  
  
"Geez you guys, I wasnt expecting you to toast me!" he yelled.  
  
"Hey boss!" Said Zidane.  
  
The boss looked at Zidane, and then at the three Eds. "Alright guys... just wait one second, who are these three... kids?" The boss asked.  
  
Blank sighed and spoke up. "This is Ed, Edd, and Eddy. They fell from the sky, and unfortunately, we now have to look after them. Otherwise, they might ruin the plan."   
  
The boss growled a bit."We can't look after a bunch of kids," he said. "We have a play to do!"  
  
"Don't worry about it Baku, I took care of that" Said Blank. "These kids aren't as bad as you might think. Heck, they may be a big help in our plan." Blank said.  
  
Baku sighed. "You had better hope so Blank. We can't afford any screw-ups. Now lets get the general plan together." Baku said, and headed into the next room. The other seven followed into the room too.  
  
Baku pulled out a few models and dolls and began arranging them to show what they were generally doing. "Now, we are currently 30 minutes away from Alexandria. When we land, we are going to perform 'I Want to be Your Canary' by Lord Avon. Zidane and Blank, you are going to be the kidnappers. The rest of you on stage, you are the distraction. Make the play good so nobody will notice the missing princess. Now when the play is finished, we get out of there with the princess and get back to Lindblum before she is missed. Any questions?" he asked. The room was silent. "Alright then, everyone get ready, we've got a show to do!" Everyone split up to do his or her thing as the giant theater ship sailed closer and closer to Alexandria.  
  
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Chapter End.  
  
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There's chapter 1 for ya. You know, its really slow getting started, but I promise the next few chapters will be a bit faster.  
  
Next chapter: We see Edd in Alexandria, and the play starts without TOO much trouble. Next chapter, "Alexandria, my name is ED"  
  
Read and Review, as always.  
  
AK, over and out. 


	3. Alexandria, My Name is ED

Author Kirby here. No pointless stuff up here today. Although I may let Edd run the show from here... nah.   
  
Thank you to my SECOND reviewer. This may be a good time to tell you guys... I need one review per chapter... otherwise I keep my writing to myself. :P  
  
Alright people, glad you enjoyed the first two chapters. This one isn't going to be as long as the other one. That's about it, so enjoy "Alexandria, my name is ED"  
  
Disclaimer: SUMMARY, DUH!  
  
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Chapter 2: Alexandria, my name is ED  
  
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"Wow... this is amazing!" Edd said.  
  
Eddy groaned "It's just a castle... what's so special sockhead?" he asked.  
  
"I spy a big shiny thing in the middle. Can I have it Eddy?" Asked Ed.  
  
"What do you think Ed?" Eddy replied.  
  
Ed smiled happily. "YAY I GET THE BIG SHINY THING!"  
  
Edd sighed. "At least he is still the same."  
  
-The three Eds were on top of the airship, looking at the marvel that was Alexandria. Alexandria is a bustling town with people everywhere. Near the town was a lake, and in the middle of the lake was the castle. The castle had 4 turrets on the corners, and a big blade-like pillar in the middle. It was truly a sight to see. -  
  
(I wonder if anyone back home has noticed we're gone?) Edd thought to himself. (Mother and father must be worried.)  
  
Eddy glanced over at Edd. "What's up Double-D?" Asked Eddy.  
  
Edd sighed. "Oh nothing much. Thought I do wonder if anyone back home has noticed our sudden disappearance?" he said.  
  
Eddy shrugged. "I really can't tell. None of us knows where we are."  
  
"I miss home Eddy." said Ed. Edd and Eddy just stared at Ed, thinking the same thing. A few seconds passed before Blank came upstairs.  
  
"You ready Double-D?" asked Blank. He dug into his pockets and pulled out a little box. "Here, you're gonna need this."  
  
Edd looked a bit confused. "Ready for what?" he asked, taking the box. On it was a very odd symbol that looked like a tornado. Blank also handed him a slip of paper with instructions on it.  
  
"You're gonna jump" Blank said.  
  
"I'M GOING TO WHAT?" Exploded Edd.  
  
"HE'S GOING TO WHAT?" Shouted Eddy.  
  
"SHOUTING CONTEST, YAY" Burst Ed.  
  
"Calm down will ya. The box you have will stop you from crashing into the ground." Explained Blank. "Just chuck it at the ground and a blast of wind will stop you before you hit the ground"  
  
Edd peered over the edge of the airship. It was a good 500 yard drop. He tried to push the feeling of doom out of his mind, but couldn't "Are you sure about this?"  
  
"... No" Said Blank, and shoved Edd off the edge. "SORRY, BUT YOU'LL THANK ME LATER."  
  
"HAPPY LANDINGS DOUBLE-D!" shouted Ed. {I'm so cruel, aren't I?}  
  
-Edd was falling again, screaming at the top of his lungs. The wind whipped by him as the earth came closer and closer. He shut his eyes for a few moments then re-opened them. This time, the ground was a LOT closer than normal. Edd had no idea what to do before he finally remembered the box. -  
  
"I sure hope this works, otherwise, I'll be a literal pancake" Edd said, and threw the box at the ground under him. When it hit, he felt a large blast of wind come his way, and his fall slowly came to an end. He touched down, light as a feather.  
  
"Well... I'll have to remember to thank Blank when I get back to the ship." Edd said to himself, and stood up. He was in a field not too far outside the town of Alexandria. He shrugged, picked up his staff, and began to stroll towards the town.  
  
(It's amazing to see a town that looks like it came right out of old world culture) Edd thought to himself. He soon found himself at the town entrance, and facing two guards, dressed in old world armor.  
  
"Halt, who goes there?" Asked guard one, preparing his sword.  
  
(I probably want to keep a low profile if I'm going to sneak in) Edd thought to himself. "Uh, my name is... err Duo... Dee, yeah, Duo Dee, and I'm from the town of... err (What's that place again... oh yeah, Lindblum) the town of Lindblum, and I'm here to see the play."   
  
"Alright Mr. D. You sure are dressed funny," commented guard 2. "And how come you didn't come by airship?"  
  
"(Oh, shoot... I never did get a change of clothes. Now about the airship... um... lets see. It um.... broke down, yeah that's it!) My airship...err, broke down near... (What's the place... something gate... South Gate, oh yeah) South Gate. It's being repaired. I had to walk the whole way here, so I'm quite tired." Edd lied.  
  
"Alright, your story makes sense... you know, your clothes are really interesting. Anyways, you may pass. Welcome to Alexandria!" Said guard one.  
  
"Thank you... err, I'll... be going... now." Said Edd, and he got away from that situation before anything else could happen.  
  
"Interesting fella, wasn't he," said guard 1 when Edd had left.  
  
"Quite. I still can't believe he walked all the way from South Gate... in those clothes!" Replied guard 2.  
  
"Yeah... he certainly looks like someone from Lindblum though, he sure dresses like it" Guard 1 said.  
  
"I know... oh well. I don't really see any reason to be suspicious" Said Guard 2  
  
"Me neither" Replied Guard 1.  
  
------------------------The city of Alexandria-------------------------  
  
(This place is amazing) Thought Edd to himself. He was enjoying the sites, but having a very hard time getting around because of all of the people that were there for the play. He eventually found himself in a big plaza, and there were people bustling about.  
  
(How am I ever going to find my way into the castle?) Edd asked himself. He absentmindedly strolled around for a while, looking at the shops and asking a few people what the play was about. He got some pretty weird questions about not reading any of Lord Avon's plays, and his clothes, but he just shrugged them off. Edd eventually heard the call for tickets, and that's when he saw a little guy with a steepled hat and a blue robe hanging his head.   
  
(He must be bummed about not being able to see the play) Edd thought to himself. (The poor guy. Maybe I can go cheer him up). Edd casually walked towards the steepled hat kid who was just invited to go jump rope with a couple of other kids. (I'll be polite and wait for the kid to finish... I wonder what I should say to him)   
  
-The steepled hat kid began to jump. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... eventually he got to 20, and it got a bit faster. 21, 23, 25, 27... (Wow, he is good) Thought Edd. The kid kept jumping past 50, 55, 60, 65... he was on fire. He got to 100, and things REALLY picked up. 100, 110, 120, 130... the little guy hit 200... 220, 240, 300.... 500... 700 (This kid can really jump, for a little guy) Thought Edd, practically astounded that the kid had made it this far.. 750, 800, 850, 900, 950, 990, 995... 96...97...98.... 99, 1000. That's when they stopped. -  
  
The kids who the steepled hat kid was with were astounded. "Wow, you are really good. You are the new jump rope king!" Exclaimed the kids.  
  
"T-Thanks... I really didn't think I could do it myself." Replied the kid in the hat. He took the cards and mini award given to him and walked into an alley. Edd soon followed and caught up to him.  
  
Edd tapped the guy on the shoulder and he turned around. "That was some pretty intense jump roping there kid. I'm impressed!" he said.  
  
"T-Thanks." Replied the kid. "I tried to forge a ticket to get into the play, but I got caught. So I decided to do something else with my time."  
  
Edd frowned. "Why couldn't you just buy a ticket?"   
  
The kid kinda slowly answered. "I'm actually kinda broke. After my grandpa died, I had to fend for myself. All I have left is 270 gil, and a few potions."  
  
Edd felt a pang of guilt, but he ignored it. "Wow... I'm actually kinda new here too, so I really don't have anything to go by." he replied. "What's your name anyways?"  
  
"V-Vivi" Vivi stuttered. "What about you?"  
  
"I'm Ed-errrrrr Duo... Duo D." Edd replied, catching himself from using his real name.. "I was hoping I could have gotten into the play... but after I saw you needed a ticket, I just stopped trying."  
  
"Oh..." Vivi replied. "Hey, someone is coming." He said, and a little rat kid with a red hat came around the corner.  
  
The kid looked a bit suspicious to Edd, but he ignored it. "Hey you guys... you wanna see the play with me?" The rat kid asked.  
  
Edd and Vivi looked at eachother excitedly. "You bet!" they replied.  
  
The rat kid nodded. "Alright you lazy people. I'll let you sneak in with me on one condition. You two are going to be my slaves," he demanded.  
  
"Mmm... I don't know" Said Vivi.  
  
Edd didn't take a moment to decide. "Done" he said. (This kid really can't mean it) he thought.  
  
The rat kid nodded. "Alright, you short guy, look that way and see if someone is coming. Tall guy with the hat, with me." he ordered.  
  
"Alright" Replied Edd and Vivi. Vivi gave the other two the all clear, and then the rat kid took a nearby ladder from the wall. He waved Vivi to come with them and the three of them ran through the back streets into an old chapel.  
  
"Alright, you, short kid, go up there first. Hat kid, check and see if anyone is coming." Ordered the rat kid. Vivi went to climb up the ladder in the chapel when a fluffy creature with a red pom-pom on it's head fell on top of him. It started shouting at Vivi.  
  
"Kupo, watch where you are going!" Said the creature.  
  
"What are you?" Asked Edd, who had turned around.  
  
The creature shook his head. "Don't tell me you haven't seen a moogle before!" said the rat kid. "They're all over the world. Some people say they're magical guardians from beyond. I think they're an annoyance."  
  
"Hey, I heard that, Kupo!" Said the moogle. "My name is Kupo, I haven't seen you around here before. Where are you from, kupo?" Kupo asked.  
  
Edd thought for a second. "Err... I'm from Lindblum. I was here to see the play, but didn't have a ticket." Lied Edd.  
  
Kupo nodded. "Nice to meet you, kupo. Tell my friends in Lindblum I said hi, kupo." Kupo said.  
  
"He'll do that," the rat kid said, obviously trying to speed up the conversation. "Alright guys, follow me." and with that he climbed up the ladder in the chapel. Vivi and Edd followed closely. They made it to the roof without too many troubles. Then they came to a wooden platform they had to cross. The rat kid ran straight across, Edd walked across with his eyes shut, but Vivi had a hard time.  
  
The rat kid sighed. "Great, Mr. Hat here is afraid of heights. Just walk across and pretend its solid ground," he ordered.  
  
Vivi nodded weakly. "O-okay... I'll try." Vivi said, and slowly inched his way across the board. He eventually got to the second rooftop, and Edd congratulated him. The three walked to the second board, and it was the same thing for the three of them. Vivi had a hard time again.  
  
"I'm sure it won't fall Vivi, just come across." Edd said.  
  
"A-Alrighty..." Vivi said and began to walk across. The board wobbled and began to splinter in the middle. Vivi rushed across right as the board snapped in two.  
  
"Well what do you know, it broke," The rat kid said. "Hurry up, the play is going to begin soon." The three continued across the rooftops and finally reached an area next to the castle. The rat kid took the ladder and bridged the gap so they could gain access to the castle.  
  
"Lets go guys" Said the rat kid, and ran into the back of the audience. Vivi and Edd followed. Inside were smartly dressed people who looked very rich.   
  
(Well, it looks like I finally made it to the noble's booth.) Edd said, and began to clap with the rest of the people as the play began. (Now to find where the princess is sitting)  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
End Chapter  
  
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Well, I have to say that went a bit faster. Doesn't mean it didn't take me a while to write.  
  
Coming up next chapter. The play goes off without a hitch. The three guys attempt to kidnap the princess, and then everything falls apart.  
  
Be sure to read the next chapter, "Show stopping ED"  
  
Read and Review please. Reviews are nice :D  
  
AK, over and out. 


	4. Show Stopping ED

Author Kirby here. I am glad you like the story people. Evil forest isn't coming up until chapter 4 though. Just wait, I'll get to it.  
  
You know what really helps when writing a crossover game fic? Playing the game to refresh your memory. I play, then I collect the ideas for my writing in my head, then I write (Or type for you who are correctionists :P) Anyways, enough pointless chatter from me. Time for chapter 3.  
  
Disclaimer: SUMMARY OK!  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: Show Stopping ED  
  
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"We ready to do this guys?" Zidane asked the group.  
  
Eddy sighed. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." he replied.  
  
"Just stick to the cues we gave you, and you will do just fine." Assured Blank.  
  
Zidane glanced over at Ed "Ed, you know what to do right?"  
  
"Do I have five fingers?" Answered Ed. "Of course I do!"  
  
"Good" said Zidane. "Alright, here we go! Make it good you guys"  
  
-The group of 'actors' was backstage, ready to perform the play that would serve as the distraction for the three kidnappers to... well... kidnap the princess. If the plan went well, a sleeping weed would be slipped into the princess's drink. She would fall asleep; Ed would grab her and take her to the ship just as the play ended. Then Tantalus and the Eds would get out of there before anyone noticed that Garnet was gone. Of course... nothing can go perfectly. -  
  
The group of five ran out onto the stage and began exchanging the classic dialogue from the play. Ed and Eddy had really nothing important to say because... they didn't have the most important parts. Eventually the actors on stage engaged in a pretend battle.  
  
"You are going to regret ever trying to take over my Kingdom" Marcus said, and began to slash at 'King Leo'  
  
"I doubt that highly Marcus," Replied the King, returning the attack.  
  
"I think you should reconsider" Taunted Zidane and sliced at Eddy, who pretended to be wounded.  
  
"Get him for me Sire" Said Eddy before limping offstage. "Glad that's over with, this thing is giving me a rash" He mumbled and began to change out of his costume. (I wonder how Ed is going to do.)  
  
Ed was one of the solders left next to the King, and took a slash at Blank. Blank stepped backwards from the blow.  
  
Blank put his hands together and began to concentrate. "You shall pay for that scoundrel! POLY!"   
  
A bright ball appeared over Ed's head and began to break apart, slashing at Ed with thousands of miniature light fragments. [They should actually be glass fragments, but hey, special effects rock!] Ed took a step back and fell down.  
  
"Looks like you're the only one left King Leo, prepare to suffer the same fate as my father" Said Zidane, charging King Leo. He slashed the King, and he went into a pretend limp. Zidane prepared another attack, but Blank jumped in the way.  
  
Zidane growled at Blank. "Get out of the way, for vengeance will soon be mine"  
  
Blank shook his head. "Do you not see? If you kill the king, who will be left"   
  
"Fine, I shall dispose of you first, traitor. HEYA!" Shouted Zidane, and slashed at Blank. At this point, Ed got up from his 'wounded' state and began to chase after Zidane and aid Blank.  
  
"Do it how we practiced boys" Whispered Zidane and began to swordfight with Ed and Blank. This went on for quite a while with intense movement and skill from all three of the fighters. Eventually, Blank ran away, off to the side, into the castle.  
  
"Come back here traitor, we are not finished yet" Shouted Zidane, and he gave chase. Ed soon followed, and the crowd was cheering like crazy. Before the three of them left, they were showered with around 10,000 gil {Just like in the game. It's not actually that hard if you keep a rhythm}. They pocketed the golden coins and ran off stage.  
  
----------------With Edd, Vivi, and Rat Kid----------------  
  
Edd was quite enjoying the show the three had just put on. "Wow, what a truly spectacular work of art. Its like poetry in motion, a grand festival of rich literature brought forth" he commented.  
  
"It's great. I'm so glad we snuck in" Said Vivi. He was clapping hard along with Edd, but the rat kid didn't look so pleased.  
  
"It's hard to see from up here. Let's move down to the lower levels guys." He said, and ran off down the stairs. Vivi soon followed, only stopping to ask 'Duo' if he wanted to come with them.  
  
Edd thought for a moment. "I don't know. There's a higher probability that we will get caught down there... aww what the heck, I'm coming guys!" He said, and ran after Vivi. The three of them got down to the balcony that the swordfight had just taken place at. Edd looked down at the stage, and then up at the booth where the princess was.   
  
-Big problem. Edd noticed the princess was out of her seat, along with one of the knights... and he knew that they couldn't have kidnapped her that fast. -  
  
Edd looked down and the color began to drain from her face. (Oh no... Oh no, oh no, oh no. This is not good at all) He thought, jamming his hat down over his face. (We have a BIG problem now.)   
  
Vivi glanced up at Edd. "Something wrong Duo?" he asked, noticing Edd acting very oddly.  
  
Edd shook his head. "No... no, it's nothing, just keep watching the play" Assured Edd, fixing his hat. (I can't believe I didn't keep tabs on the princess. Now what?)  
  
------------------Backstage in the castle, with Zidane, Blank, and Ed------------------  
  
-Smack... Crash... OWWWWWWWWWW... silence. Finally, after taking down three guards, they got three suits of armor. It was a bit nasty wearing many years old armor, but it will be worth it as soon as the princess was captured... right? -  
  
Blank looked himself over in disgust. "Ugh, this armor REEKS." he complained.  
  
Zidane nodded. "You're telling me. Mine smells like it had ooglops living in it for six weeks." said Zidane   
  
Ed looked a bit confused. "Strange, my armor doesn't smell."   
  
Blank and Zidane stared at Ed. "You got lucky Ed." Said Blank. "Alright... here is the plan. Ed, you make sure nobody is coming from the right. I'll make sure nobody is coming from the left. Zidane, you go up the stairs and we will follow."   
  
"Gotcha" Affirmed Zidane and Ed. Ed and Blank peered down their ends of the hallway. They both gave the OK and Zidane dashed up the stairs with Blank and Ed in tow. They kept watch on the same two hallways as Zidane went to put the sleeping weed in the princess's drink. All of a sudden, a white hooded figure dashed out of the hallway, right into Zidane.  
  
The hooded figure stood up and brushed herself off. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Please let me pass." asked the figure. She looked very anxious to be somewhere else.  
  
Zidane thought for a second. "Hang on... I think I've seen you before somewhere." Said Zidane, examining the face of the figure closely.  
  
The figure shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we have not crossed paths before," Answered the figure.  
  
"Nah, I'd never let such a pretty face get by me" Said Zidane.  
  
"Oh... well... bye!" Said the figure and she dashed by Zidane, spinning him around while she ran. The figure dashed down the stairs and also spun Ed and Blank.  
  
"Have a nice day" Said Ed as he spun. Zidane sped after the figure, briefly telling Ed and Blank that he had found the princess. Ed followed after him while Blank went a different way. They chased her throughout the castle until they came to a tower. Ed and Zidane kept chasing her around and around in circles. Finally, Zidane stopped and turned to Ed.  
  
"Ed, this isn't working. You go the other way and I'll go this way. That way, we'll corner her!" Zidane said.  
  
Ed gave a brief nod and went the other way. Finally, they had caught the princess, or so they thought. She climbed up on one of the ledges of the tower and stood there as Ed and Zidane closed in on her. With a smile, she leaned back, and fell off the ledge. Ed and Zidane went wide eyed as she fell, but it turned out that she had grabbed onto a flag banner. She flew all the way across the audience and landed in the instrument section.  
  
"What is she nuts!" Shouted Zidane. "Come on Ed, we have to go after her." He said, and grabbed a banner for Ed and himself. They both swung across just as the princess had and landed in the equipment section. They followed her tracks into the room right next to them and down the stairs into the room the Eds had learned to battle in. Finally, the princess stopped.  
  
"Do you work on this ship?" Asked the princess.  
  
Zidane nodded. "Yeah, why?" he rebounded.  
  
"As you must have figured out, I am Princess Garnet till Alexandros, heir to the throne of Alexandria." Replied Garnet, uncovering her hood, and letting her face be shown. "Please, I wish to be kidnapped right away!" She pleaded.  
  
"What?!" Asked Zidane, completely shocked from the turn of events.  
  
Ed was scratching his head. "Weird... why are you named after a pretty stone?"  
  
Garnet shook her head. "My name origin is not important right now. Please, I cannot explain, but you must kidnap me right away!" she begged.  
  
Zidane nodded and bowed. "Alright Princess. I will do my best to kidnap you."   
  
"And me... I'm Ed." Said Ed, trying to bow... CRASH... but wound up falling over.   
  
"Thank you both." said Garnet.   
  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Princess" Came an unknown voice.   
  
From the other room came Cinna's voice. "What are you guys doing out there, get in here!" he said, and opened the door. Ed, Garnet, and Zidane filed into the other room. Only a few seconds later did a knight come bursting through the door.  
  
"Princess.... princess... princess... PRINCESS?" He said while examining the room.  
  
-----Room with Ed, Zidane, Garnet, and Cinna-----  
  
Zidane groaned. "Now what, we're trapped."  
  
Cinna only smiled. "Not to worry, I knew this might happen" He said, and turned towards the table in the middle of the room. "Open" The table flew up. "Sesame" and a hatch appeared and opened. "Jump in guys." he ordered.   
  
-Zidane and Cinna jumped in, followed by Garnet, and then Ed. Ed's stupidity impulse kicked in though, and he dived in head first, crashing into the engine room below. Of course... he was laughing the whole way. -  
  
CRASH. Ed landed head first on the wooden floor. "Do it again, DO IT AGAIN!" He exclaimed happily.  
  
Garnet giggled a tiny bit. "Does he always act this foolishly?" she asked. It was a good thing she had moved out of the way, otherwise she would have been smushed under Ed.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes" Sighed Cinna. "Come on, we need to get moving incase that person follows us." The four of them moved into the next room, when the knight slid down the pole, stopping the group in their tracks.  
  
"Finally, princess I shall save you from these scoundrels!" Said the knight. From behind the group, a soldier appeared too.  
  
"Don't worry princess... you'll be safe with us." He said, chuckling slightly, and getting into battle stance.  
  
"Y-You are not one of my knights," Stuttered the knight. "Begone, all of you!" he shouted and went after Zidane. Zidane easily blocked the blows with his daggers and dodged the rest of them. The knight gave up and went after Ed. Ed blocked a blow, dodged the second, and then struck back before a third. The knight steppet back a bit as Zidane and Blank double teamed him , leaving him exhausted. Finally, the knight stood up and readied his sword.  
  
"This battle is over, now. STOCK!"  
  
The knight's sword glowed for a second and then he brought it down on Blank, shattering his armor... but leaving a little surprise. Ooglops began bouncing everywhere.  
  
The knight stopped and his eye began to twitch. "O... Oo... Oog... Ooglops!" he shouted, and began to run around in circles. "I HATE OOGLOPS!"  
  
Zidane ran to another door. "Come on, lets go Garnet, and you too Ed" he waved, trying to get both of them out of there. The three of them traveled into the next room, where stage platforms were.   
  
Cinna popped into the room and gave a few orders. "Ed, get on number 1, Garnet and Zidane, number 2" He commanded. The three people got on their respective places and Cinna pressed a button. The two platforms began to rise into the stage above them. The knight ran into the room, pushed Cinna out of the way, and got on number 3. He rose into the stage above him as well.  
  
---------------On stage--------------  
  
"Furthermore.." King Leo said before the stage opened up, and the four people appeared. Marcus broke free from the guards and ran towards Garnet.  
  
"Cornelia!" Said Marcus.  
  
"Cornelia is Marcus's lover. Make this good, because everyone is watching." Whispered Zidane.  
  
Garnet nodded. "Alright" she answered. "Oh Marcus, I never wish to leave thy side again!"  
  
"The same for me." Answered Marcus.  
  
"I shall not allow this love to happen. You, Prince Schneider shall marry my Cornelia" King Leo said and walked over to the knight  
  
The knight looked shocked. "Me... Marry the princess?" he stuttered.  
  
"Yes, you are the only one whom I would allow" Said King Leo.  
  
"Then I shall make sure you are not around to dictate who your daughter marries." Said Marcus, and he took a 'stab' at King Leo. 'Cornelia' moved in the way though, and she got stabbed instead. [Under the armpit trick, don't worry guys]  
  
"Cornelia!" Shouted Marcus, and he ran to hold her.  
  
"Marcus, my father is not a evil man. Please forgive him," She said weakly and then stage died.  
  
-------------With Edd, Vivi, and the rat kid---------  
  
Edd wiped a few tears from his eyes. "Oh... this is such a sad play!" Cried Edd.  
  
"I know. Why did she have to die" Cried Vivi.  
  
The rat kid nudged the other two. "Guys... there may be something else you may want to look at" he pointed, and began to run. Edd and Vivi looked up and saw two guards running towards them.  
  
"Ahh, run away!!!" Vivi and Edd shouted and began to follow the rat kid. Vivi tripped though, and Edd stopped to help him up. The chase continued around the booth, down a ramp, across the stage, over the princess, around Ed, and back over the princess. Finally they both stopped, and Vivi turned around.  
  
"Leave us alone! FIRE" Vivi said.  
  
A jet of fire burst forth from his hands, scaring away the guards... but wound up burning Garnet's cloak.  
  
"Yeow, that's hot!" Garnet said, and ripped off the cloak. The entire audience gasped, including the Queen.  
  
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Chapter End  
  
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Yep... the end of another chapter. It was obvious that something bad was going to happen, right?  
  
Next chapter: The gang tries to escape on their airship, but they get shot down in the process, and land somewhere that may cause more problems then they wanted.  
  
So be sure to read the next chapter, "Evil as and ED can get."  
  
Read and Review as always.   
  
AK, over and out! 


	5. Evil as an ED can Get

Author Kirby here. Reviews make me all warm and fuzzy inside. I am so glad all of you are enjoying this fic. It just so happens that I have the next two chapters in draft form, so I am prepared. As for pairings... there may be slight paring... some good friendships between people, but nothing more than that. (I'm still trying to figure out if Ed/Quina would work like suggested.)  
  
This chapter is actually a bit shorter than the others, but trust me, the next two are a bit longer.  
  
Disclaimer: SUMMARY... CHECK THERE!  
  
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Chapter 4: Evil as an ED can get.  
  
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There was utter silence as the scene unfolded.  
  
"This is not good" Edd said, staring at the princess.  
  
Baku ran for the bridge, only stopping to tell everyone to get ready for takeoff. "Guys, we're outta here". Cinna followed Baku so that he could warm up the engines. Ed, Edd, Zidane, Marcus, Blank and Garnet stayed on stage to stop the knight from interfering.  
  
"Princess, please, get off this ship," Pleaded the knight, trying to get the princess. The wall of people blocked his path though.  
  
Garnet shook her head. "Steiner... please don't follow me anymore" she asked.  
  
"Nonsense princess. I shall rescue you from these scoundrels and we shall throw them in prison" Stated Steiner.   
  
-A brief quarrel went on between Steiner and the group of kidnappers. Steiner tried his hardest to break through the five people and take the princess, but he could never get close enough. Finally the ship began to rumble and took off. The queen was not too happy about this. She began ordering around the knights at the cannons. -  
  
"Fire the harpoons," The queen ordered. About 6 giant harpoons sailed through the air, and crashed into the side of the airship, nearly throwing Edd and Vivi off the side. One of the harpoons nearly crashed into Garnet, but Zidane pulled her to safety. Another harpoon hit one of the turrets on the side of the ship and sent it sailing into the city. Eventually, the Queen brought out the big cannon, and it was BIG!  
  
"Fire the bomb!" She commanded. The cannon shot a powerful blast right at the airship. Before the blast hit though, it stopped and seemed to hover in mid-air.  
  
Edd looked up from his position. "Oh this is not good." he said, wide-eyed, and staring at the floating ball of flames.  
  
"Guys, we officially have a HUGE problem" Said Zidane. The bomb began to get bigger and bigger.  
  
Vivi covered his head. "It's gonna blow!" he shouted as the bomb rapidly expanded. Finally the bomb stopped inflating... and exploded in a giant ball of flaming destruction.{Always wanted to say that for some reason} The blast kicked up a giant cloud of smoke, obscuring everything in it. Finally, the battered airship sailed out of the cloud and out of Alexandria, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. It sailed over the waterfall, and finally the engines quit. The airship gently fell out of the sky and came closer and closer to the earth. Most of the people on the deck could not hold on any longer.  
  
Edd's grip on the rails of the airship was slowly slipping. "We're going to crash!"  
  
Ed was scrambling up the side of the deck. "May-day may-day!"  
  
Eddy was closing his eyes and braced for impact. "Not cool!" he shouted.  
  
The airship kept falling and eventually crashed into the forest. Everyone who was on the deck was flung in different directions. The airship's engine combusted, and a shockwave cut through the trees.  
  
-----------With Eddy-----------  
  
Eddy groaned as he sat up from his contorted position. "Oh my aching head" Eddy mumbled. He had been flung the shortest distance from the ship, so he had felt most of the shockwave from the explosion. But to add injury to... well... more injury, he had landed on his head. Eddy gathered his lance and looked around. "Great... I'm lost in the middle of a forest; in a world I don't even know. What else can go wrong?"  
  
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Came Zidane's voice, and he jumped down on the rock that Eddy was on. Eddy swiveled around to see Zidane, attempting to prop himself up on a rock wall.  
  
Eddy groaned. "What do you mean I don't want to know?"  
  
"This is Evil Forest. It's a nasty place to be in, no matter what time of day it is." Explained Zidane. "Anyone who has ever gone in has never gotten out. That's how it got its name."  
  
Eddy folded his arms. "Great. Just great." He grumbled.  
  
-----------With Ed--------------  
  
Ed wasn't exactly in the best of shape. He had landed on his side, and skidded across some thorns, so the whole right arm was torn up, along with his leg. "Hello? Hello!? Is anybody home?" Called Ed. He looked himself over and noticed his injuries. "Ow... I need a doctor... or maybe Double-D. He knows about band aids and stuff." Ed sighed and started walking in the direction of the rising smoke that he spotted.  
  
-----------With Edd-------------  
  
Edd was rubbing his head. His clothes were pretty dirty from the fall. He had landed pretty far from the ship, but the good news was that Vivi and Garnet had landed near him. "Ohhh... that was an unpleasant experience." Mumbled Edd.  
  
"You said it." Replied Vivi, brushing himself off. "I never want to ride an airship ever again!"  
  
Garnet looked around. "Does anybody know where we are?"   
  
Edd shook his head. "Not really. Though we seem to be in some kind of dense forest, and we didn't get too far from Alexandria."  
  
Vivi gasped. "We must be in Evil forest! This is bad... this place is scary." he whispered.  
  
"Why don't we try and find the ship. We can see if anyone else is there." Suggested Garnet.  
  
Edd nodded. "Works for me"  
  
"Alrighty... let's go." Said Vivi. The three of them began walking towards the direction of the smoke that was high in the air. Little did they know that a pair of eyes was watching them. Edd got 'the feeling' and suddenly stopped and looked around.  
  
"Is there something wrong... I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." Said Garnet.  
  
Edd shrugged. "It's Edd." he said. "For some reason, I get the feeling we're being watched... and or followed."  
  
Vivi looked surprised. "I thought your name was Duo?"  
  
Edd shook his head. "Nah, I was using that name to get by the guards in Alexandria." he explained. "But you can still call me Duo if you want." he offered.  
  
"Sure... I guess." agreed Vivi.  
  
"It would help to distinguish you from your funny little friend." Said Garnet. "He does have the same name as you."   
  
Edd smiled. "Ah yes, Ed is quite the lovable character, even if he is a bit odd at times."  
  
The three of them glanced around for anything suspicious. Once they satisfied themselves, they continued on. After a few more steps, they heard a rustle in the bushes.  
  
Edd swiveled around, looking frightfully around the trees. "W-who's there?" he stuttered. Nothing moved for quite a while. The three just shrugged and continued on their way.  
  
(I was sure someone was there. Maybe the stress of this new world is getting to me.) Edd thought.  
  
A few steps later, they heard another rustle.  
  
"Now I know I wasn't hallucinating." Said Edd.  
  
"Maybe we should run for it?" Suggested Vivi.  
  
"I don't see why not." answered Garnet. The three of them began to sprint through the trees. Oddly enough, there was a dirt path that was leading them directly to the ship. Eventually they got to a place in which the light was shining through the trees, and the three of them stopped to catch their breath. They looked behind them and saw nothing.  
  
"Think we outran it?" asked Edd.  
  
Vivi shrugged. "I don't know... maybe... I sure hope we did."  
  
Edd thought for a moment. "Let's just get to the ship bef... GARNET LOOK OUT!" A circular shadow appeared over Garnet, and not two seconds later, a plant-like creature dropped down and ensnared her in its 'tentacles', trapping her in a cage type structure. Vivi and Edd backed away from it, not knowing what to do except shout for help.   
  
"It's coming from over here!" Came Zidane's voice, and he appeared behind Vivi and Edd. "Dang, that thing is ugly." He commented. Behind Zidane appeared Steiner and Eddy.  
  
"Somebody get the weed killer," joked Eddy.  
  
Steiner glared. "Now is not the time to make wisecracks! We must free the princess at once!"  
  
Zidane pulled out his Daggers, and ran in to slice up the beast. His swords easily cut through the vines of the plant like monster, but the cuts he made were quickly healed.  
  
Eddy just stared. "This thing can regenerate, man this is one nasty plant". Eddy whipped out his lance and went in for an attack. He brought his lance up, and then stabbed it right through the monster. He withdrew it, and left a fair sized hole in the middle of the plant. It took a bit longer to recover though. Steiner took this opportunity to slice off one of its tentacle like limbs. The plant beast groaned a bit, and then brought up it's remaining tentacle to the cage that Garnet was in. A light began to form around Garnet, and she began to look weaker and weaker. The plant, however, became stronger, and regenerated faster.  
  
Zidane looked furious. "It's sucking the life out of her." He growled. His body began to glow, and he was enveloped in a bright light. It swirled around him, and finally broke, but he was still glowing a deep yellow color.  
  
Steiner looked shocked. "Could this be trance?"  
  
Zidane was concentrating hard, and his daggers began to glow brighter and brighter. Finally they were practically shimmering. Eddy and Steiner had to cover their eyes.  
  
"Man, somebody un-plug those things!" Eddy shouted. Zidane began to twirl his daggers in his hands. Finally he stuck them out in front of him.   
  
"FREE ENERGY!" Zidane shouted. A blast flew from his two daggers and toasted the plant monster. Before Zidane could go in for the final blow however, the monster leapt into the treetops and vanished. The light around Zidane faded, and he began to beat at the ground.  
  
"Ahhhh!!!! If only I had gotten here sooner!!!" He shouted, furious at himself for letting the monster get away. Vivi walked over to the spot that Garnet was standing.  
  
Vivi looked down. "If only I wasn't so afraid... I could have stopped the monster..." He looked down. His shadow looked a bit big for him though. He realized this a bit too late as a second plant monster dropped down and imprisoned HIM in a cage.  
  
Edd looked petrified. "VIVI NO!" he shouted. His body began to radiate with light just like Zidane had done. Eddy looked on with jealousy and shock.  
  
"Man, now SOCKHEAD is glowing." Eddy said. Edd's body continued to glow. Finally, the light broke, and Edd was glowing a deep blue. He took out his staff and pointed it at the monster.  
  
Edd glared. "I will NOT let you kidnap another one of my friends. FIRE WALL!" He shouted. A GIANT wall of fire flew out of his staff and roasted the plant, and unfortunately, Vivi. When the flame wall finally subsided, the creature was a very dark brown and covered with ash. Vivi was a bit shaken, but he was alright. The creature went limp, and Vivi was released from his prison. He ran over to Edd, who was no longer glowing, but panting heavily.  
  
"Wow... that was powerful... I never knew you were a black mage." Vivi said.  
  
Edd wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Neither did I." he chuckled, and fell down from exhaustion. "Whew... this trance thing really takes a lot out of a person, doesn't it?"  
  
Eddy sighed. "You never were one for a workout Double-D." Little did the group know, the monster was slowly recovering. It growled, making everyone swivel around, and it sprayed a green mist at the group. Eddy and Zidane dodged it, but the rest weren't so lucky. Edd, Vivi, and Steiner collapsed to the ground, leaving a very frantic Eddy and Zidane.  
  
-------------------------  
  
End Chapter.  
  
-------------------------  
  
Yay, Edd can do trance too! You guys obviously know he is a black mage by now... but I may throw in an extra twist later on. Hehehe.  
  
Coming up next chapter: The group regroups, and heads out to rescue Garnet... and escape from the forest. Think it's going to be easy, you can't be farther from the truth. Be sure to read the next chapter, "EDscape and rescue mission."  
  
(Jingle) Now that you've read, you can review, and another chapter I'll give to you! shot  
  
This is AK, over and out. 


	6. EDscape and Rescue Mission

Author Kirby here.  
  
Sorry about the chapter delay... I had to give my desk to my brother so that he could have one at college... so I've been stuck without a desk until now. I'll try and get another chapter up soon after this... now that I can type again :) Let me just get back into my writing mode for now.  
  
Disclaimer: YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK!  
  
Chapter 5: EDscape and Rescue Mission.  
-----------------------------------------  
  
-Edd felt horrible. Not only was he completely exhausted, but that plant's mist was messing with him too. He felt like there was something crawling around inside him, and he did not like the feeling. He tried to sit up, only to lie back down from a lack of energy. He only wondered what had happened to the others. He glanced around the room and saw Ed sitting in a bed near him, and Vivi on his other side. Ed's arm was bandaged up, and he was gazing up at the ceiling with a blank look on his eyes. Edd made a 'clearing your throat' noise, and Ed looked over at Edd. Ed smiled and ran over to Edd-  
  
"Double D, you stopped being unconscious!" Ed exclaimed happily, and went to hug Edd, but his arm got hit with a surge of pain and he backed away.  
  
Edd attempted to prop himself up on his pillows to better see Ed. He finally managed to do so, and sighed. "When did you get back Ed?" Asked Edd weakly. He wasn't very surprised that he couldn't speak very loudly.  
  
Ed smiled. "I flew off the ship and hit a bush. But the bush had thorns in it so I made an owchie on my whole arm. I headed for the gray cloudy thingies that were coming from the ship and then Mr. Blank dude gave me a band-aid for my arm, see. Then he came in with you and the guy with the really nifty hat and said he would be back with the medicine," he explained.  
  
Edd looked puzzled. "Medicine? I'm not sick, just tired."  
  
Ed looked in Edd's direction. "You are sick mister, and need to go to bed. Mr. Blank guy should be back any second no..." he couldn't finish his sentence because the door slammed open and Blank came running in.  
  
Blank rushed over to Edd and gave him a bottle filled with a goopy purple liquid. "Drink this, now" he ordered. Edd just shrugged and took a sip of the concoction. It tasted like grass, chalk, and mud mixed together. Edd made a face, jammed his eyes together, and chugged the whole bottle. Instantly, his whole body got extremely warm, and it felt like he was being purged of something. After 3 seconds, the heat went away, and all that was left was a nasty feeling in his gut. The good news was his energy was back.  
  
Edd made the 'I'm going to barf now' face. "Ugh... I've never tasted something so vile, putrid, tasteless, and disgusting in my whole life. And I've been in Ed's room!" he exclaimed. Blank looked up from Vivi, who he had just given a bottle of the same liquid. Vivi was coughing slightly, but recovering at the same speed Edd had.  
  
Blank shrugged. "Sorry, but that's the only known cure to remove the seeds from your body."  
  
Edd looked puzzled. "Seeds?"  
  
"Some of the monsters in this forest regenerate by planting seeds in a person's body. As soon as the seeds begin to grow, you can say good-bye to your body." Blank explained. Edd had a very unpleasant vision right then, but shook it off.  
  
Edd got up and walked over to Ed. "Do you know where Eddy is Ed?"  
  
Ed shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen Eddy at all. Mr. Blank dude may know though." Blank looked shocked at the sound of being called 'mister'.  
  
"He's upstairs with Marcus, go ahead and see if you can find him." Pointed Blank. Edd beckoned for Ed to follow him and they both left the door. Edd looked to his right to see a set of stairs. Both of the Eds began to climb the spiral to the bridge of the wrecked ship. Finally, they got to the top and saw Eddy, staring out of the window.  
  
"It's all my fault. Double D is injured, we're stuck in this crazy world, and I don't know where Ed is. If only I hadn't been so angry about a stupid 20 bucks." Eddy sighed. He turned around to see Ed and Edd smiling at him.  
  
"You don't have to feel bad Eddy, we're right here" Ed exclaimed, and gave Eddy a big hug. Eddy's face began to get beet red again.  
  
"WOULD YOU GE... It's nice to see you too Ed" Sighed Eddy, and let Ed continue on his rampage. Finally Ed let go and the three of them sat down together.  
  
Edd sighed. "It is quite a crazy world out there." He said. "I can't begin to comprehend the fact that they can hover before they can fly"  
  
Eddy shook his head. "Always with the technology, huh sock head?"  
  
Ed smiled. "Eddy's back to normal!" Eddy just laughed.  
  
"Ed is as care-free as always... that's a good sign." Edd said.  
  
Eddy nodded. "Agreed. Now I have to ask you something, how did you go all glowy like Zidane did, and how did you shoot that fire from your staff like that?"  
  
Edd thought for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure. I mean, there Vivi was, trapped like Garnet was, and I got really angry at the thing, and it seemed like all of my anger was channeled into my staff, and I just... well... did the first thing that came to me. I roasted the plant. I mean, if you light a plant on fire, its gonna burn right?"  
  
Eddy nodded slowly. "But that still doesn't explain how you shot fire in the first place."  
  
"I think it has to do with something Vivi said. He was surprised that I was a black mage too. I was confused at first, but then I figured it out. Mages are associated with magic, which means that I can do magic. That's why this rod I was given let me learn the fire, blizzard, and thunder abilities." Edd explained.  
  
Ed gasped. "Cool! You can shoot ice and thunder from your hands too?"  
  
Edd scratched his head a bit. "Well, I haven't really tried it yet. I'm still trying to grasp the fact that I can shoot fire from my rod!" He exclaimed.  
  
Eddy sighed. "Amazing sock head. So, can you explain why you nearly collapsed after you went out of your glowy mode?"  
  
Edd thought for a moment. "Yeah... I think I just over-exerted myself. I mean, it took a LOT to just go all glowy like I did, and even more to shoot that much fire, so I probably just wore myself down."  
  
"Good job... now all we have to see is Ed here go all glowy and then I'll be impressed." Eddy said.  
  
Ed chuckled. "All I need to go all glowy is a light bulb and a battery."  
  
"Too bad yours is never on monobrow!" Mocked Eddy.  
  
Edd frowned. "Now Eddy, this is no time to be mean."  
  
"Lighten up Sock head, I'm just trying to brighten up the atmosphere." Eddy chuckled.  
  
"Alright... hey... I wonder where everyone is?" asked Edd. Nobody had come up for them for quite a while, and that was bothering them a bit.  
  
Edd stood up. "I propose we go and look for them. They wouldn't have dared to leave the ship."  
  
"Fine with me, but I hope we get something to eat here soon, I'm starving!" Eddy stated. The three re-united Eds filed down the stairs, and went to check in the room Vivi was in. Steiner and Zidane were already in there, and Vivi was looking a whole lot better. Zidane and Steiner looked up.  
  
"Well, if it isn't our three favorite guests." Said Zidane. "You are right on time. I'm looking for help to go save the princess, and was thinking you three could tag along. I already got rusty here." Steiner frowned.  
  
"We would be glad to come, right fellas?" asked Edd.  
  
"No way!" shouted Eddy. "There is no way I am setting foot out of this ship!"  
  
Edd shook his head and sighed. "Oh Eddy, don't you realize if we go with them we can get out of here faster."  
  
"Ugh... I can't believe I'mgetting dragged into this... fine, I'm coming." Eddy said. Steiner smiled.  
  
"Excellent, with Master Vivi and Master... err, you there, what is your name?" Asked Steiner, pointing at Edd.  
  
Edd looked surprised. "Me... I'm Edd, but I've also been called Duo."  
  
Ed and Eddy looked up. "What's with the name change sock head?" Eddy asked.  
  
"Duo was the codename I used to get into Alexandria. It's been popular with Vivi and Garnet so far, so maybe other people would like it." Edd explained. {Duo may be interchanged with Edd sometimes in the story, just to let you know}  
  
Ed smiled. "Duo is two, and you have two D's in your name, it makes perfect logic."  
  
Eddy sighed. "Actually, I'm with Ed on this one. Duo isn't a bad name sock head."  
  
"Eh, as long as you know when you're being talked to, it's fine with me." Zidane said.  
  
"It is settled then. Master's Vivi and Duo shall be joining us on our journey." Steiner said.  
  
Zidane frowned. "Why are you calling them masters?"  
  
"You fool, they are black mages. Who knows what kind of power they may wield?" said Steiner.  
  
"Yeah, whatever" Said Zidane. "I already checked with the boss, so we have clearance to go and rescue Garnet. Besides, the longer we wait here, the slimmer our chances of rescuing her get"  
  
"We're off to save the princess!" exclaimed Eddy.  
  
"Almost like a fairy tale!" said Ed.  
  
The six rescuers began to leave the room, but Steiner held Vivi and Edd back.  
  
"I wish to try something with your magic, if it is okay with you two." whispered Steiner.  
  
Edd and Vivi looked at each other, and nodded. "Fine by us" Edd said.  
  
A bit of whispering went on between the three of them, and bits of dialogue like 'Magic Sword' and 'Power up' came into play. Finally, the three of them caught up with the others. The six of them took what they could from the extra supplies and headed to the entrance of the forest. Before they could leave, Blank stopped them.  
  
"Forgetting something?" he asked.  
  
Zidane scratched his head. "Not that I can think of... why, you have something for me?" Blank dug around in his pockets and brought out a bottle filled with the same liquid that Edd had to drink.  
  
Blank tossed the liquid to Zidane. "Give this to the princess when you find her."  
  
Zidane pocketed the liquid. "Will do." he said and left for the forest. The five others followed, leaving Blank behind.  
  
"Good luck you guys" Whispered Blank, and he turned to go back to the ship.  
  
-----------------A bit later down the path in the forest. --------------------  
  
The six of them had reached a small spring after battling it out with waves upon waves of enemies. The whole party felt completely exhausted, and their supplies had suffered a serious dent.  
  
Edd got down on his knees and crawled over to the spring. "Oh... need... H20... now..." he moaned, and began to drink from the spring. Instantly, his body began to regain its energy, and he stood up, completely refreshed and rejuvenated.  
  
"Hey guys, come drink from the spring. The water is great!" Edd called. The five other heroes came over and refreshed themselves as well. The whole team, now completely refreshed, continued down the forest path. Oddly enough, they didn't meet any more enemies along the way. Zidane got a bad feeling about that.  
  
"Stay sharp guys... I think the head plant may be near." He said. A little while later, the group began to hear crawling, like bugs. They traveled a bit farther, turned a corner in the trees, and came face to face with the biggest and ugliest flower they had ever seen. Eight monstrous tentacles waved around it, and a giant red flower in the middle.  
  
Edd stepped back a bit and pointed behind it. "Guys, I think we found our princess."  
  
Eddy sighed. "Great, more plants."  
  
"I hope you guys brought some weed killer," joked Ed. Everyone sighed, pulled out their weapons, and prepared for battle.  
  
Ed took his sword in his good arm and began slicing at the plant. It wasn't doing much good though, as the vines on the monster were tougher than logs, and Ed was no lumberjack. Ed was smacked aside by another vine, and was sent flying into a tree. He landed and slumped down.  
  
"Well, that wasn't good. Eddy, would you please go and look after Ed?" Edd asked. Eddy grumbled and went over to where Ed was. Edd concentrated for a moment on the monster and analyzed a possible strategy. Steiner and Zidane were hacking away at a tentacle and dodging blows from the plant, not trying to repeat Ed's mistake. Finally, one of the tentacles came off. Unlike the monsters before them, this plant couldn't regenerate. That gave Edd an idea. He focused his energy for a second, and blasted a tentacle with fire magic. The tentacle went limp, and Zidane and Steiner went to chop it off. Edd ran over to Vivi.  
  
"I think I found a way to beat this thing!" Edd said excitedly. He whispered a plan to Vivi, and they nodded at each other. From afar, they cast fire spells at some of the remaining tentacles, singeing them, and allowing for Zidane and Steiner to do the dirty work. Finally, there were four tentacles, and that's when they ran into a problem. The plant monster forgot all about Zidane and Steiner, and began to focus its attacks at Edd and Vivi. This unfortunately forced Edd and Vivi to abandon their magic-casting tactics and run for their lives.  
  
Edd stared wide-eyed at the oncoming assault. "SPLIT VIVI!" he shouted and ran left as Vivi ran right. The two of them ran around the whole clearing as two tentacles each chased after them. Zidane and Steiner tried to disable one or two of them, but couldn't keep the vines at bay long enough to do any damage. Finally, Edd had an idea.  
  
"STEINER, REMEMBER OUr TALK, STICK OUT YOUR SWORD NOW!" Edd shouted, nearly out of breath. He cast a rather quick fire spell into Steiner's sword, and the sword began to get super heated. Steiner went after the limbs chasing Edd and cut them clean in two. Edd stopped running, seeing that he was no longer being chased, and clutched his chest, finally catching his breath. Steiner went and chopped the other two limbs off. Finally, there were no more tentacles to bother them. Edd smirked, calmly walked over to Vivi, who was still catching his breath, and whispered something to him. Vivi nodded and thy both got ready for one more spell. The two of them concentrated, and unleashed two simultaneous fire spells.  
  
"DOUBLE FIRE!" Shouted Vivi and Edd. The two fire spells began to swirl around each other, and shot right through the plant monster, burning it to a crisp. The monster drooped, and began to fade away out of existence.  
  
Edd raised an eyebrow as the plant monster finally disappeared. (Well that was interesting. I wonder where it went?) Steiner went over to pick up Garnet, while Zidane congratulated Edd and Vivi. Ed was finally up and walking, and Eddy came with him over to Edd. Everyone congratulated the two black mages and finally regrouped. A few seconds later, Blank appeared from the path that the group had taken to get here. He had a look of disappointment on his face.  
  
"Awww, did I miss all of the action?" Blank asked. Everyone turned around to look at him.  
  
Zidane shook his head. "Too bad for you Blank. If you wanted to have some fun, you should have come earlier"  
  
Blank sighed. "Yeah, well... let's get out of here bef..." Before he could finish his sentence, a hole opened up in the ground, and a few plant bugs jumped out. Everyone stared for a second, before Zidane shouted something VERY important.  
  
"LETS GET OUT OF HERE!" Zidane shouted, and ran down a nearby path. Everyone followed as the bugs trampled after them. They were chased through the trees, and across a stream. Zidane got ahead for a moment and stopped to look around.  
  
Zidane scratched his head. "It like the whole forest is after us." he said. "This is not good."  
  
-The group kept running as disaster unfolded behind them. Zidane dropped behind to make sure that everyone else got out safely. That was a bad choice. A few of the bugs got up close nearly grabbed him, but Zidane was pushed out of the way at the last second by Blank. He struggled to get free, but with no luck. Finally, he threw something far ahead of Zidane and he kept running. Zidane was wide eyed as he saw the whole forest becoming completely petrified behind him. He grabbed Blank's item and kept running. He wasn't out of the woods yet though [literally], as huge, spikey vines flew in front of him, trying to block his path. He jumped, dodged, ducked, and flew through the vines. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel was in sight. He was so close... closer... even closer... with one last leap, he flew out of the forest as vines slammed across the exit. Zidane panted as he saw the whole forest become as gray as stone. Ed Edd and Eddy came up behind him and were completely shocked at what they saw. -  
  
End Chapter ----------------  
  
Yay for escaping! We have some talented people here, don't we?  
  
Next chapter: The gang recuperates, and finds a way up and out of the mist, but it may be harder than it looks to succeed.  
  
Be sure to read the next chapter, "Chilled to the ED"  
  
Read and Review, I don't have to keep telling you guys that, do I?  
  
This is AK, over and out. 


	7. Chilled to the ED

Author Kirby here. It seems my story is a hit with you guys... I'm glad. Making other people happy makes me happy and... yeah.  
  
Answering a few questions... Yeah, I may do a few more combos like double fire in the chapters to come... but I may have to plan a few things... I still have to get Ed and Eddy's trance in first. Hehehe.  
  
Anyways... expect a good show from one of the Eds in this chapter, not telling you who though. I'm promising you that much. So if you want to find out, read the chapter... YAY!  
  
Disclaimer: I'M RUNNING OUT OF THINGS TO SAY!  
  
Chapter 6: Chilled to the ED ----------------------------  
  
-It was a bit chilly outside that morning. But of course if you were surrounded in a weird mist with summer clothes on, you'd be cold too. The group of seven had pitched a tent near a large rock, and made a small fire for the night to be safe. It seemed that monsters hated fire, and that was their only protection. Steiner could try all he wanted, but even he would wear down eventually. Finally, Edd and Vivi popped out of the tent, along with Garnet. She was feeling much better after taking Blank's medicine, and, much to the protests of Edd and Vivi, insisted she had to get out of that tent. -  
  
Edd glanced around through the heavy fog like substance. "So this is the mist that everyone is so afraid of. It doesn't seem that bad." He waved his hand up and down, just to see how it would react. "Seems quite harmless to me."  
  
Vivi walked up behind him. "It may not seem like it, but things can get really nasty if you aren't careful."  
  
"The mist has been around since the beginning of this planet's life. Nobody knows where it comes from or what is producing it, all we know is that it is here to stay." Garnet explained. "By the way, but has anybody seen Zidane. I wish to speak with him."  
  
Vivi pointed towards the Petrified Forest. "He's over there. Last time I talked to him, he seemed kinda down." Garnet nodded her head and walked over to converse with Zidane. Vivi and Edd took this time to wake up a sleeping Steiner, who was snoozing next to the fire. Steiner was a bit grumpy from being awoken at first, but apologized when he saw who had awoken him.  
  
"Ah, Masters Vivi and Duo. I'm sure you had a pleasant nights sleep under my careful watch." Steiner stated. Edd just sighed and Vivi had to stifle his laughter. Careful obviously meant asleep for Steiner.  
  
"Yes Steiner. It was fine, even though I haven't gone camping for a long time." Edd said. "So... now that Garnet is awake, shall we construct a plan?"  
  
Vivi spoke up. "I think I have one. Last night I was thinking of what my grandpa had told me a long time ago. I remember something about a cavern that will take us up above the mist."  
  
Steiner nodded. "It sounds like a good idea, it would be best that we leave immediately. I shall gather the princess and that thief." Steiner said, with a bit of emphasis on thief. "You gather your comrades Master Duo" he said, and ran off to find Garnet and Zidane. Edd and Vivi turned around and poked their heads into the tent. Ed was sound asleep, snoring like his usual self. Eddy was stirring in his sleep, talking about money and riches. Edd sighed to himself and began to dig around in his pocket. Eventually, he pulled out an air horn and some earmuffs. (Some things never change, do they?)  
  
Vivi looked puzzled. "What is that?"  
  
"It's an air horn. It's used to signal people from far away. You may want to plug your ears though, this contraption can be quite loud." Edd explained. Vivi shrugged and put his hands over his ears. Edd slipped a pair of earmuffs over his ears and readied the horn. He hit the button on top, and a loud blast of sound flew out of the horn, right into the tent. Ed and Eddy shot up, their head's spinning, and eyes out of focus.  
  
"DOUBLE-D, WHEN I CAN SEE PROPERLY, YOU ARE SO GOING TO GET IT!" Shouted Eddy.  
  
Ed was staring into space. "Pretty colors... spinning like the stars." Edd signaled for Vivi to put his hands down, and Edd put away both the horn, and the earmuffs. Eddy was rubbing his eyes, trying to recover his sight.  
  
"I would have woken up if ya had just shaken me sock-head!" Eddy growled. He stood up and yawned. "What time is it anyways?"  
  
Edd shrugged. "No idea. All I know is the sun is still rising, so it must be early."  
  
Edd went over to help Ed, while Eddy and Vivi want out of the tent. Ed's arm was much better, so the bandages were removed, and after a quick wash with a bit of water, Ed was ready to go. The two Eds marched out of the tent in good spirits. Eventually, the group of seven had assembled next to the big rock, and was finally ready to go.  
  
"Alright here is the plan. Vivi said there was a cavern somewhere south of here. We are going to go find it. Hopefully it will take us over the mist, and from there... let's just figure that out later." Edd explained. The seven of them were leaving when a moogle flew out of the forest to them.  
  
"I'm glad I found you guys in time, Kupo." Said the moogle. "I have something to give to you." The moogle took out a small wooden whistle thing and gave it to Edd. "This is the moogle flute. When you play it, a moogle should come and help you, Kupo"  
  
Ed and Eddy looked a bit confused at the moogle. "Yo sock head, what is that thing?" Eddy asked.  
  
Ed looked at the bobbing pompom on the moogle's head. "It is so funny... I want to touch it!" he said, and ran over to the moogle. Ed began to poke the red pompom thing on the moogles head; chuckling each time he touched it. The moogle just sighed.  
  
"Is he always like this, Kupo?" asked the moogle.  
  
Edd nodded. "Yeah, but we're working on it. Thanks for the gift."  
  
The moogle gave a quick goodbye and flew off... much to the protest of Ed.  
  
"But I wasn't done touching it yet!" Ed complained. Eddy just growled and dragged him along by the ear.  
  
-The group of seven traversed across the mist filled plains. Ed, Eddy, Steiner, and Zidane sliced apart most of the monsters they came across, but there was the occasional need of fire from Vivi and Edd. Garnet acted as a medic with her white magic. They continued south, and eventually came across a cavern where a constant cold wind was blowing. -  
  
Edd shivered. "This must be the place. It's quite cold though... we had better hurry through here."  
  
-Everyone looked around in awe as they traversed through the cavern. Everything was covered in a thick layer of ice, so traction was quite bad. -  
  
"It's beautiful. I've only seen this place in books, but seeing it in person is much better." Garnet said.  
  
Eddy frowned. "It's too cold in here, and slippery." he complained. "I want to get out of here as fast as possible"  
  
Ed was having the time of his life. He would push off of a wall and slide all the way into another wall, and then push right off again. "Slip and slide, slide and slip... CHECK ME OUT GUYS, THIS IS SO COOL!"  
  
Edd frowned. "Ed, you be careful!" Too late. Ed was too busy having fun to notice the wall in front of him. He crashed into it head first and dull, hollow sound echoed throughout the cavern.  
  
Edd lifted his eyebrow. "Interesting, the wall over there seems hollow."  
  
Eddy frowned. "Nah, it's just Ed's empty head." Zidane walked over to the wall and pounded it.  
  
"I think there is something behind this... hey Vivi, come here for a second." Called Zidane. Vivi walked over to where Zidane was standing, with a bit of difficulty.  
  
"Yeah Zidane?" Asked Vivi  
  
Zidane hit the wall again. "I think there is something behind here. Think a good fire spell may work?"  
  
Vivi nodded. "Alright... I guess I can try." Vivi powered up a fire spell and launched it at the wall. It melted in a shower of mist and revealed a small alcove with a broadsword lying on the floor. The sword was made of a light blue metal material. Zidane examined it for a few moments, and then nodded.  
  
"Hey, this looks like a mythril sword! These are kinda hard to come by." Said Zidane, and handed the rod to Ed. "You may want to keep that Ed, these things can be quite expensive." Ed took the rod in his hands and handled it a bit. It was unusually light for a broadsword, but still quite strong. Ed put the sword away and then went back to the group.  
  
-The group continued along through the cavern, looking at the walls and ice formations, and wondering when they were going to get out of the cold! They traveled for some time, and found more ice walls like the one before, but there wasn't much besides a few potions and a phoenix down. Finally, the group came to a fork in the path. One of the paths had no wind coming out of it, while the other had a strong wind. They took the path with the strong wind, figuring that the end of the cavern was near. All of a sudden... it got REALLY cold-  
  
Eddy's teeth were chattering. "G-guys... it has-s got-ten way t-t-to cold-d out-t here"  
  
"We... can m-m-make it-t. The exit-t can't b-b-be t-to far" Edd replied. The group continued along the snow-covered pathway through blizzard force winds. Vivi couldn't keep up though, and eventually collapsed under the extreme conditions. The entire group was already extremely cold, and it only felt like it was getting colder. One by one, they dropped into the snow like flies. First Steiner, then Edd, Eddy, Garnet, and Ed. Finally Zidane fell too, to cold to carry on by himself.  
  
----------------A few minutes later. ------------------  
  
Ed was lying face down in the snow. He was very cold, but he was glad he still had his jacket. He slowly pushed himself into an upright position, and looked around. Everyone was still out cold [Literally], and shivering. Everyone was present, except Zidane.  
  
Ed scratched his head. (Maybe he went to get help. I should follow him.) Ed looked around and found a set of footprints. He stared at them, and began to follow the footprints like a hound dog. He eventually heard some shouting, and knew it was Zidane.  
  
"I'M COMING MR. WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS." Ed shouted, and rounded a corner. Zidane was on the ground, battered from who knows what. Ed took out a potion from his back pocket and began to shake it. The liquid inside began to get very frothy. Ed tossed the potion over Zidane and the liquid sprinkled over him. His energy returned to him and he got up.  
  
Zidane rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I owe you one... but now is not the time."  
  
"There's time for later. I need answers now." Ed said. He was a bit confused when he had found Zidane, but he knew what he needed to do now, find the thing that beat him up.  
  
"We need to find the guy who beat me." Zidane said. {And everyone goes DUH!}  
  
"Oh, you don't have to look very far you little rodent." Came an icy voice. The two heroes looked up and saw a very peculiar person. He looked like Vivi a bit, except with blue-feathered wings on his back, and a bell in one of his hands. He rung it, and it made a very annoying ringing sound. "So, you may be back after your first defeat, but not even your partner will be any help this time!" said the person. He rang the bell yet again. "Sealion, come before your master!" The ice near him cracked apart, and out came a HUGE sealion. It was nearly four times as large as Ed was, and with the bell guy next to him, it looked like a downright impossible battle.  
  
"You ready to take these guys down big guy?" Asked Zidane.  
  
Ed shook his head. "No, but I will anyways!" Ed took his new mythril sword in his hand and went in after the sea lion. He jumped high into the air and brought his sword down on the sea lion, injuring it. Ed kept slicing at the sea lion like a maniac as Zidane prepared to take down the mage like person.  
  
"Are you sure you want to take me on again? You know you are going to lose." taunted the mage.  
  
Zidane sighed. "I have experience now, so it's a whole new fight this time" He said, and ran in with his daggers at the ready. The mage simply sighed and casted a blizzard spell at Zidane. Razor sharp snowflakes launched towards Zidane, but he was ready this time. He hopped over the spell, and the mage himself, and took a slice with his daggers. The mage howled in pain and tried to knock Zidane away, but he was too quick this time. The mage was being sliced at from every direction, and there was nothing he could do. Finally, the mage casted a blizzard spell that his its target. Zidane flew across the cave from being hit and slammed into a wall. He slumped down, and was out cold. Ed was wide eyed as he saw Zidane fly by him, and was knocked away by the sea lion during his attention lapse. Ed slammed into the opposite wall, and fell down into the cold snow. He forced himself up though, and had the look of fury in his eyes. His whole body began to radiate with light, and it became so bright, that the mage and the sea lion had to look away. Finally, the light died down, and Ed was glowing a faint red color.  
  
Ed glared and pointed his sword at the both of the enemies. "I think you two need to be taught a lesson in MESSING WITH MY PALS!" he shouted. His sword glowed for a moment, and Ed threw it into the air. He concentrated for a moment, and then pointed at the two foes. "SWORD RAIN!"  
  
First one broadsword fell from the sky, then two, and then five, ten, twenty, soon it was raining razor-sharp blades. They cut through the two foes like a hot knife through butter, leaving them battered, bruised, and beaten. Ed was panting as his sword fell from the sky and landed next to him. The light around him died down, and he was sweating and panting, but there was a satisfied grin on his face. The sea lion began to disappear into a cloud of dust, and so did the mage.  
  
"You may have defeated me, but you shall never beat Black Waltz 2 and 3!" He said, before he too disappeared into a cloud of dust. The high-wind blizzard that was swirling about died down, and it began to get about 30 degrees warmer. Zidane woke up finally, and congratulated Ed. Ed told Zidane what had happened and Zidane smiled.  
  
"Man Ed, I never knew you had that kind of power in ya!" Zidane said. "Anyways, let's go check on the others. I sure hope they are awake." Ed followed Zidane as he rounded the corner back to the group of people. Everyone was awake and stretching, wondering what had happened.  
  
Edd looked around. "Anyone know where Ed and Zidane are?"  
  
"We're over here guys." called Zidane. Steiner was the first to go and see Zidane. He didn't look too happy though.  
  
"WHAT DID YOU DO YOU SCOUNDREL?" he shouted, face full of anger.  
  
Zidane shrugged. "It was nothing Rusty. If you really want answers, you should really talk to Ed here." Vivi, Edd, Garnet, and Edd all finally caught up to Ed.  
  
Eddy folded his arms. "Yeah Ed, what did happen."  
  
"Well, I had woken up, and it was cold, see. So I looked around and Mr. Whoever this guy is was missing. ("That's Zidane," said Zidane) So I look for him and he is out cold. So I give him a potion and he wakes up. Then this really weird guy with an annoying bell comes and attacks us with a big sea thingy. But anyways, Mr. Whoever this guy is ("It's Zidane" said Zidane, a bit louder this time.) hits a wall and then I go all glowy and chuck swords at them. Then he says stuff about black waltzing and now we are here... the end!" Ed explained.  
  
Edd thought for a moment. "Any reason why this guy would want to attack us?"  
  
"Uh... nope, can't think of anything." Ed said.  
  
Garnet interjected. "Excuse me, but I think we should really get out of this cave. The storm may be gone, but the cave itself is still quite cold." The group nodded, and began to head in the direction of the battle.  
  
-The waterfall that was there had unfrozen, and was now falling like it's normal self. The group climbed up the side of the wall, jumped across the waterfall, and came to a cave exit. The seven of them smiled, and ran outside to feel the warm sunlight on their faces. -  
  
Chapter End ----------------------  
  
So, you've seen Edd's trance, Ed's trance... now all that's left is Eddy's trance. Who knows when that will come, huh?  
  
Next chapter: The guys visit Dali, and the Ed's get a little info on living, and a new wardrobe. But the village seems to have some bad things happening, and there may be some things that they don't want to discover there.  
  
So be sure to read the next chapter (Certainly going to be a long one) "Secrets of a Dark ED"  
  
Reviews are cool... and so is this story, so more reviews makes for more chapters :D.  
  
This is Author Kirby, over and out. 


	8. Secrets of a Dark ED

Author Kirby here.  
  
Thanks for the reviews as always. Sorry for not putting one up in a while. My life just kinda got really busy, really fast, so I'm trying to fit in writing to my busy schedule as well. I might start putting up notices in my bio as well, so get ready to look for those as well.  
  
Get ready for a long chapter this time. It took me quite a while to write... my longest chapter so far. So free up some time and read the next chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU AGAIN!  
  
Chapter 7: Secrets of a Dark ED ---------------------------------  
  
Edd took in a deep breath and sighed. "It's great to be out in the sun again!"  
  
"I know, I thought I would have gone crazy if we hadn't gotten out of there!" Eddy exclaimed.  
  
Zidane nodded. "It is nice to get out of the mist. People hardly go there in the first place," he said. "Anyways, lets focus on the task at hand. We need to get the princess to Lindblum, right?"  
  
"Right" Everyone but Steiner affirmed.  
  
"Now just hold on here, the princess is going straight back to the castle as soon as we can get transportation!" Steiner said.  
  
"And another thing, I think it would be a good idea for Garnet to assume a new identity. Everyone is looking for her, and not us." Zidane stated. "So, if we keep on the down low, then we can easily get to Lindblum without causing too much trouble."  
  
Steiner was slowly getting redder in the face. "Now you listen here you thief. The princess does not need a new identity!"  
  
Edd shook his head. "Unfortunately Steiner, I would have to agree with Zidane. If the princess gets caught, we get caught too, and quite frankly, I don't want to see one of your prisons." Steiner stopped yelling at Zidane and turned to Edd.  
  
"Well... if Master Duo thinks its okay, then I guess we can go along with it." Steiner sighed. "But the princess must agree to it."  
  
Garnet nodded her head. "I think it is a perfectly fine idea. But what shall my new identity be?"  
  
Ed smiled. "You should be named Nazz" Eddy covered Ed's mouth before any more suggestions came out of his mouth.  
  
"Monobrow, we weren't asking YOU!" Eddy said.  
  
"How about Sara?" Edd said. "And before you try and silence ME Eddy... this is not spelled the same as Sarah back at home."  
  
Eddy stopped for a moment. "No way... I am NOT bringing a memory of that little... brat along with us on this trip." The group sat for a moment and pondered on what to rename Garnet as.  
  
Finally, Vivi came up with an idea. "How about Nikki?"  
  
Steiner smiled. "A wonderful suggestion Master Vivi"  
  
Edd nodded his head. "Its nice... almost reminds me of... ah" he dosed off into thought until Eddy elbowed him back to reality.  
  
Eddy folded his arms. "Its alright." (Though I could have thought of that.)  
  
Garnet nodded. "I like it. I shall now be known as Nikki to everybody." Everyone nodded his or her head. But before they left their cliff side, Zidane had one more thing to say.  
  
"Hey Nikki, you're gonna have to change how you talk if we are going to pull this off." Zidane said.  
  
Nikki looked confused. "Change how I... speak."  
  
Zidane nodded. "Yeah... you gotta be more casual in how you talk, and not so formal."  
  
Nikki smiled. "I can... okay." Everyone smiled and began walking down the cliffside.  
  
-Ahead of them was a lush field of grass with a few forests scattered about. In the distance they could see a small village and even farther out they saw South Gate. The group of seven journeyed across the field and finally arrived at the village. Everyone sighed with relief as they entered the village perimeter. -  
  
Eddy dropped to his knees and began kissing the ground. "I thought we would NEVER get here!"  
  
"It is so not modern! I want to touch everything." Ed said, and ran off into the village, but Edd held him back.  
  
"Hang on there Ed, I think we should find a place to stay for the night." Edd said. "Lets look around for an..."  
  
"The Inn's over here Duo" Zidane pointed. Edd just shrugged and went inside, dragging Ed behind him.  
  
-Everyone filed inside the small resting place and took a look around. There wasn't much in the inn. There was a small fireplace next to the door and a small table for dining. On the other side of the room was a door that probably led to the beds. Behind the counter was the innkeeper who was dosing off slightly. Zidane just shrugged and shook him awake. -  
  
"Huh... wha?" muttered the innkeeper. He looked around and stared at Nikki for a moment.  
  
"Hey buddy, I know she's cute, but it's rude to stare. Now how about some food and a room?" Zidane asked.  
  
The innkeeper just nodded. "Oh, sure. Let me get you guys something." he said, and walked into a back room. The clinking of plates and pottery could be heard as interesting aromas wafted out of the back room. The three Eds began to drool, remembering how hungry they were. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the innkeeper brought out a big plate filled with different types of fruits, and meats on it. There was also a pitcher of red liquid with ice in it. The seven heroes didn't even wait to begin digging in. Everyone had a bit of everything, and nothing was left over when they were finished.  
  
The innkeeper whistled to himself. "You guys must have been pretty hungry, huh?"  
  
Edd nodded. "We haven't eaten in a while."  
  
The innkeeper smiled a bit. "Alright, the room's over there behind that door." he pointed. "Good night." Everyone else gave their goodnights and went into the room. Inside were seven small beds around the perimeter of the room. There were a couple bookshelves here and there and a small table in the center of the room. Once everyone was inside, Zidane locked the door and everyone sighed with relief.  
  
"Well... so far so good." Zidane said.  
  
Nikke looked a bit confused. "Zidane, are we all sleeping in this room?"  
  
Zidane nodded. "Yeah... that's how it is in the country. There aren't any private rooms in these inns."  
  
Edd patted Sara on the back. "It won't be too bad Nikki." he comforted.  
  
Nikki nodded. "I guess you are right Duo... by the way, what is that sound?" Everyone looked around for the source of a slight whistling noise. Ed was lying in bed, fast asleep. Everyone just smiled and got in bed too.  
  
--------------------The next morning---------------------  
  
-Edd was lying in his bed, completely exhausted from the day before. He didn't care that he wasn't following his normal schedule of waking up at an exact hour; all he cared about was getting a well-deserved rest. He was having the most interesting dreams though, and he couldn't exactly make out what was going on in them. All he knew was something was tickling his foot...-  
  
"What the... EDDY, WHAT IN SAM HILL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Edd shouted, backing up into his bed. Eddy was holding a golden feather and was tickling Edd's foot with it.  
  
Eddy folded his arms. "'Bout time sock head. Everyone else got up an hour ago, including Ed here." he said, and pointed to Ed, who was bouncing on his bed.  
  
Edd rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. "I'm sorry Eddy. Yesterday was very exhausting, and I really needed some sleep."  
  
Eddy shrugged. "Well, at least you're up. Now we can go look around the village." A dull 'Thud' was heard and Edd and Eddy looked across the room. Ed was lying on the floor, chuckling like his normal self.  
  
"Well what do you know, I can't go through the ceiling." Ed mumbled. Edd shook his head and Eddy was laughing his head off.  
  
Edd got out of bed and slipped on his shoes. "Well, we know Ed is feeling like his normal self again." he said, and walked over to help Ed up. The three Eds finally got together and walked out the door to see Zidane sitting at a table.  
  
Zidane beckoned the Eds to come and sit with him. "Hey guys, come over here for a minute, I gotta to talk to you for a bit." The Eds just shrugged and walked over to where Zidane was sitting. Each one of them pulled out a chair and sat down. That's when Zidane pulled out a small bag filled with a jingling... something. He dug around in it and pulled out a few round coins.  
  
"Now that we have the time to have this conversation, I'm going to show you guys the important things in this world, and our first stop takes us to the most important thing, gil." Zidane began.  
  
Edd raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming those coins are gil, right?"  
  
Zidane nodded. "Right. Gil is what you need to buy stuff. The more you have, the better off you are."  
  
Eddy grinned. "So gil is money in this world. (I like the way this guy thinks. He thinks money is the most important thing in this world too)"  
  
"I guess you could call it money. Now, this small coin is a one gil piece." Zidane said, and grabbed a small bronze colored coin. "These are very common, and really can't buy you much. Now this one..." he continued, picking up a silver colored coin. "...Is a 25 gil piece. A couple of these can buy you a potion or two, which is good. This one right here..." he picked up a gold colored coin, "...is a 100 gil piece. One of these usually means one potion. Now this one..." he picked up a dark red one. "... is the 1,000 gil piece. These are good for buying weapons and the like. Finally, this big blue one..." he picked it up, "... is the 10,000 gil piece. If you have a couple of these, you can probably get yourself a decent piece of armor, or a nice weapon. So that's gil, any questions?"  
  
Eddy was drooling by that point. "Just one. Are we going to get some of that?"  
  
Edd slapped his forehead, and Zidane just shrugged. "Maybe later, I have a few more things to teach you. You know about abilities right?"  
  
"Right." Ed, Edd and Eddy replied.  
  
"Good, that saves me half the trouble of what I am about to tell you. There are two types of abilities, support and attack. Support abilities can protect you from nasty things like poison, slow, petrify, and even heat." Zidane explained.  
  
Ed asked a question this time. "So I can be like... a guy who is immune to stuff?"  
  
Zidane nodded. "Yeah. Status effects are really nasty. There are common items that can cure most of them though. Others go away when you kill a monster. But I'll tell you about status effects at another time, I still have to tell you about abilities." he said. "Support abilities can also boost your performance. Some abilities let you move faster in battle, or stop magic that is thrown at you. Those take a while to learn to do properly though."  
  
"You mean we have to learn how to do these things?" Eddy said.  
  
"It's obvious you can't just magically do them Eddy!" Edd responded. "Things like this must take practice and hard work."  
  
Zidane nodded. "Yeah. Once you learn an ability though you can do it all the time. Now, attack abilities are individual abilities that you can learn. To learn these, you need to be compatible with the ability. If you can do it, you can learn it!" he said.  
  
Eddy thought back for a moment. "Like my double strike?"  
  
"And my fire?" Edd chimed in.  
  
"And my stuff that I haven't found yet?" Ed smiled.  
  
Zidane shrugged. "I suppose so. Most of the time, these abilities take the magic right out of you, so that's why you feel exhausted after using them a certain number of times. You'll know when you need a re-fill on magic though, and when that happens, we give you an ether for a quick boost, or we have you rest and regain your strength. Everything make sense so far?"  
  
Edd closed his eyes for a second and processed the new information. "Yeah. It's a bit strange at first. Our world has none of these things you talk about, but yeah, I think we can catch on."  
  
Zidane smiled. "Good, because we need to talk about one more thing... your equipment. Also know as what you wear."  
  
Ed smiled. "You mean we get to go shopping for clothes and stuff now?"  
  
"Yeah Ed, that's exactly what I mean. We really need to get you guys some new clothes so you don't stick out so much." Zidane said, and walked out the door. It was true; the Ed's didn't look a thing like anybody else in this world, so they decided it was for the best to get a change of clothes. They followed Zidane across the road to a small shop selling armor and other things. A young woman was running the shop, and she looked a bit bored when they walked in.  
  
"Welcome to the local equipment shop, anything I can get you?" asked the woman.  
  
Zidane walked up to the counter. "Yeah, my friends here need a new change of clothes. They just came in from out of town and didn't bring much with them."  
  
The woman raised an eyebrow. "I see. Well, since you are new around here, I guess I can give you a slight discount." she said. "The equipment is in the back. You can try stuff on that you like, and then pay for it up here"  
  
"Thanks, I guess... come on you three." Zidane said, and led them into the back room. There were many different types of robes, vests, hats, gloves, boots and other types of clothing in the back. The Eds looked around for a while and then tried on a few things that they liked.  
  
-Ed wound up picking out a vest similar to Zidane's. It fit him very loosely and allowed air to circulate through it. It was also made a fuzzy material that was nice and soft. On his head was a red headband that provided a bit of color to his empty face. He was also wearing a pair of boots made of a leathery material that allowed for swift movements, and easy traversing on rough terrain, but still provided comfort. He was also wearing a pair of gloves made of the same leathery material his boots were made. It allowed him to grip his sword much better, and provided him with a bit of flexibility when needed. He had on a pair of blue shorts, made a rough material that would take a beating, but allowed for easy movement in the heat of battle. -  
  
-Edd had chosen a more interesting dress up. On his head, over his traditional sock hat, was a steepled hat that looked similar to Vivi's, except it was a bit longer in length and hung down a bit more. The plus side was that it was as light as a feather, so it didn't bother him too much. He had chosen a simple, light vest and some durable shorts for the midsection of his body. The real attraction was the robe he had chosen. It was a deep blue in color and hung down to the back of his ankles. It was made of the same material his hat was, so it was light and moved with him as he walked. On his feet was a pair of boots that were durable and light, providing him with a sturdier base to stand on. Finally, on his hands were a pair of deep red gloves that were light, and made it easier to grip things. -  
  
-Eddy had chosen a setup nearer to Ed's. He had on a similar vest that Ed had on; except this one was a bit heavier that Ed's and provided a bit more protection. On his head was a dark blue headband with the knot hangings going down the back of his neck. His pants were made of a heavier, blue material that seemed to be quite durable, and were easy to move in. His boots were made of the same material that Edd had chosen, and these let him keep his ground when hit, but still be able to go in for swift attacks. Finally he had a simple pair of leather gloves that allowed him to hang on to his lance better. -  
  
-When the three Ed's had chosen their new looks, they called Zidane in to have a look. He examined the three of them, and finally nodded in approval. The four of them headed to the counter and paid for all of their new equipment. When everything was good and finished, they headed back out into the sunlight to break in their new clothes. -  
  
Edd stretched his arms and twisted around to see how flexible his new attire was. "It's amazing what a simple change of clothes can do to a guy!" he said happily. "Thanks for picking up the bill for us Zidane."  
  
Zidane shrugged. "Don't mention it. It's the least I could do after you guys saved my neck a few times."  
  
Ed was having the time of his life in his new clothes. "These things are so cool, and they feel light as a feather." he said. He was running back and forth across the road, testing his newfound speed. Eddy was adjusting his clothes a bit... they were a bit large for him.  
  
"Maybe I bought a size too big guys?" Eddy said.  
  
Edd shook his head. "You'll grow into them eventually Eddy. Just give it some time." he assured. Eddy nodded a bit and smiled.  
  
Zidane gave the guys a quick good-bye as he ran off to find everyone else. ("Stay out of trouble you three" he left them with.) The Ed's just looked at each other and sighed.  
  
Edd looked around. "Not much to do around here, is there?"  
  
"Yeah... this place is boring. There's nobody around either. I just want to get to this Lidbloom place soon before I die of nothing to do." Eddy grumbled. The three began walking down the dusty town road and looked around. A few kids were playing in the street and there wasn't a grownup to be seen.  
  
Edd sighed. "Kinda reminds you of back home, doesn't it?"  
  
Ed nodded. "Yeah... I miss everybody. Do you think we can get back?"  
  
"Only time can tell Ed." Edd answered.  
  
-The three continued down the road, looking into the local shops to see what was for sale, but nothing really interested them that much. The sun was high in the sky, and the Ed's were standing around outside with nothing to do. Nikki had gone by a few minutes ago back to the inn, only giving a quick hello to the three as she passed. Edd was looking around and saw Vivi standing around near a fence. Edd wondered what he was doing when two men came up behind Vivi and grabbed him. They took him into the nearby windmill and disappeared.  
  
Edd frantically tapped his two buddies. "Guys, I just saw Vivi get captured by two strange men!" Ed and Eddy looked shocked.  
  
"What the... who... why?" Eddy stammered.  
  
Edd shrugged. "Guys, you go and follow them into the windmill. I'm going to go and get Nikki, because I haven't seen Zidane or Steiner all day." The three nodded to each other and ran off in two different directions. Edd quickly ran into the inn to get Nikki while Eddy and Ed went to examine the windmill. Edd grabbed Nikki by the arm, only briefly explaining about what happened and almost dragged her to the windmill. When they got there, Ed and Eddy were gone too.  
  
Edd scratched his head. "Now where could they have... aha!" he said, pointing at the ground. There was a manhole-sized hole in the ground with a ladder leading down into it on the side. Edd and Nikki nodded and began climbing down. It took them a few minutes before they reached the bottom, and when they got there, Ed and Eddy were standing in front of them with their arms folded.  
  
"Took ya long enough sock head" Eddy said.  
  
Edd straightened his hat and sighed. "Patience is a virtue Eddy. Now, any idea where those guys could have taken Vivi?"  
  
Ed pointed down a rock passage. "Gee Double-D, you must be slipping, cuz there's only one passageway down here."  
  
"Oh... hehehe" Edd said, with slight embarrassment. "Shall we continue on then?" The four of them continued down the rocky passageway until they came to a rather large barrel and a small hut. They heard voices and jumped behind the barrel just as somebody walked out of the hut.  
  
"You hear something?" Said the guy.  
  
"No... come on, we need to get this one all boxed up" Came a voice from the hut. Four heads peeked out from behind the barrel as a short man came out with Vivi behind him. Another man followed behind him and the four headed off down the passageway. Our four heroes went back behind the barrel and began to speak in hushed voices.  
  
"I don't get it... why in the world would they want to box Vivi up?" Edd whispered.  
  
Nikki shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, but look at the barrel. That symbol that is on it has been on some of the other barrels in Alexandria Castle."  
  
"Could there be a connection between the castley thing and this big barrel?" Ed pondered out loud.  
  
"More than likely... but right now, lets go save Vivi" Eddy said and peeked out from behind the barrel to check if the coast was clear. Eddy gave a nod and they tiptoed down the passageway that the men who had Vivi went. They came into a room with various boxes and devices, but nothing looked out of the ordinary in there so they continued on. They traversed through another hallway and wound up in a room with a weird machine that seemed to be producing... eggs. The four glanced around and heard a slight sniffling coming from a small box in the corner.  
  
Edd walked over to it and knocked on top. "Vivi... are you in there?"  
  
"Duo... is that you?" came Vivi's voice.  
  
"Hang on Vivi... we'll get you out of there!" Edd said and motioned for the others to come and help him. Ed pried the top of the box off with his sword and then Eddy and Nikki lifted Vivi out of the box. He looked a bit shaken, but he was fine.  
  
"Vivi what happened?" Edd asked.  
  
Vivi shrugged. "I don't know. I was just standing near the fence when these two men came up from behind and grabbed me. I was so shocked; I didn't know what to do. All they said was 'How'd you get out?' and stuffed me into a box."  
  
"You should have fought back Vivi." Eddy said. "You can't let people go and push you around like that. You gotta... shout at them, tell them to get off."  
  
"Shout?" Vivi asked.  
  
"Yeah... when you shout at someone, you get the adrenaline pumping and get more power." Eddy explained.  
  
"Almost like trance... but not quite," Edd said.  
  
Vivi nodded. "Alright... I guess I can try that next time. But first I want to see what they were doing here."  
  
"You sure... after all that you've been through today?" Edd asked.  
  
Vivi nodded. "I'm sure. I want to know why they wanted me."  
  
"I would also like to know what the connection to Alexandria Castle is." Nikki said.  
  
Edd shrugged. "All right, I guess we can keep going, but be careful." The four of them continued down another passage to see where the weird egg machine was leading. They eventually came to a place where the eggs went into a closed area. There was a pane of glass in the to look into, but it was a bit foggy.  
  
Edd peered into it to see what was going on. "I think these eggs are... hatching."  
  
"Can you see what they are?" Nikki asked.  
  
Edd squinted to see through the glass. "No... I really can't see much... too much fog. Maybe if we went a bit further."  
  
Nikki nodded. "Alright... lets keep moving.  
  
"Ed... oh Ed." Eddy called. Ed had dropped behind a bit to look at something, and Eddy was getting a bit impatient. He twirled around to go get Ed. "Ed, would ya mind hurrying it up a bit!" he shouted. Ed was staring into a glass window with his tongue hanging out.  
  
"Ch...cha...chick....chick... CHICKENS EDDY!!!" Ed shouted. Eddy slapped his forehead and began digging around in his back pocket. He pulled out a roll of packaging tape, tackled Ed, and promptly began taping his mouth shut. When Eddy had finished, he put the tape away and stood Ed up.  
  
"Are you trying to get us CAUGHT you idiot!" Eddy growled.  
  
"Mph... mmmppp... mnmpp" Was all Ed could manage.  
  
Eddy sighed. "Now come with me and DONT FALL BEHIND!" He dragged Ed by the ear down the hall to where Edd, Vivi, and Nikki were standing. Edd was folding his arms and Nikki was giggling slightly. Vivi was just shaking his head,  
  
"Are you quite through?" Edd asked.  
  
"Yeah... lets keep going... I want to get on with my life." Eddy grumbled.  
  
-The four kept going down the hallway to find out what the eggs were being used for. They went down the hall, turned a corner and what they saw made them gasp. -  
  
"They look... look... like..." Edd stammered.  
  
"What the heck is going on here?" Eddy said.  
  
"What are they?" asked Nikki.  
  
"They... look like... me." Vivi said.  
  
Edd was still recovering from shock. "They aren't totally like you Vivi... some of the parts are different."  
  
"Why are they doing this?" Vivi asked, walking forward.  
  
-The four stood there while Ed looked down the hall. He had heard some voices coming from that direction but couldn't say anything thanks to the tape placed over his mouth. He began to sweat as the voices came closer. Finally, he had no choice -  
  
(Oh, Eddy is so gonna get me for this.) Ed thought and grabbed the four others. He ran around, checking for a place to hide. Finally he wound up running into a strange machine that was boxing the creatures. Inside, they were carried down a conveyor belt and then small boxes fell on top of them, completely trapping them inside. The five of them were carried along the conveyor belt, and were put into an even bigger barrel.  
  
(I am so going to kill Ed if we get through this) Eddy thought.  
  
Chapter End ----------------------------------  
  
Nice job Ed... stuffing the poor guys into boxes. Well, it took me a while, but this chapter is... DONE!!!  
  
EXTRA NOTE: I changed Sara to Nikki after consoling some of my friends about names. This is what I'm sticking with from here on out, so... too bad if you dont like it. :P  
  
Coming up next chapter. The Eds hitchhike on a cargo ship, but not before trying to be stopped not once, but TWO times. Oh boy.  
  
Be sure to read the next chapter, "Cargo Ship, with ED to Spare."  
  
Review please... those are nice. smiles  
  
This is Author Kirby, over and out! 


	9. Cargo Ship, With ED to Spare

Author Kirby here.  
  
I've been attempting to play writers catch-up, but it hasn't been working that well. Once my schedule finally cleans itself up, then I'll start picking up the pace with the chapters. Right now though… the future is looking kinda slow.  
  
Anyways, thanks for the reviews. If you haven't noticed yet, I renamed Sara to Nikki. I always had my doubts about that name; I just needed to see how reviewers reacted to it, okay? Anyways, time for you guys to read the chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: OH FORGET IT.  
  
Chapter 8: Cargo Ship, With ED to Spare --------------------------------------------------  
  
"Just a bit more fellas." Edd ordered.  
  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Eddy asked.  
  
"Positive, on 3... 1... 2... 3!" Edd shouted and slammed into the side of his box, while the 4 others did the same. A slight splintering sound could be heard as the wooden barrel cracked in two. Ed, Edd, Eddy, Nikki, and Vivi tumbled out of the barrel and landed in a heap on the ground.  
  
"Lungs... crushed... cant... breathe!" Edd gasped out. He was on the bottom... which meant he had four other people on top of him. One of them being Ed, which made it even worse.  
  
Vivi hopped off the top of the pile and dusted himself off. "Sorry about that Duo" he said and glanced around. "It looks like we're outside the village."  
  
"Finally. That place gave me the creeps," Eddy said, getting off of the others. Nikki followed closely and Ed got up afterwards. Edd felt as flat as a pancake as he was helped up by Ed.  
  
"Now... if we only knew where Steiner and Zidane were, we could leave." Edd stated and stared across the field. A slight breeze was blowing, sending a wave effect across the grass. He smiled to himself and enjoyed the moment of peace from his busy life.  
  
-Ed stared intently across the field, looking for 'Mr. Whatever his name is' [I may make this a running joke with Ed, depending on what you guys think.] and Steiner. He was bored out of his mind... nothing really happened around here. He eventually dosed off while standing up. -  
  
-Eddy folded his arms, as he saw nothing but grassy plains all around him. He was tired of just waiting around... he wanted action. He took out his lance and began absentmindedly twirling it in his hands. -  
  
-The five heroes waited for a few moments before getting really anxious. The cargo ship was going to leave soon, and if Zidane and Steiner didn't come soon, they would have to leave them. With about twenty minutes until the ship was going to leave, the five spotted a two figures running towards them on the other side of the field. As they came closer, the two were recognized as Zidane and Steiner. The five sighed in relief as Steiner and Zidane finally met up with them. -  
  
"Where were you guys? We looked all over the village and couldn't find you." Zidane said, a bit out of breath.  
  
Edd shrugged. "We had a small rescue mission we had to take care of, but it's taken care of."  
  
Steiner scratched his head. "Rescue mission. Did some bandit attempt to capture the princess Master Duo?"  
  
"Nah, some dudes thought Vivi was someone else. Don't worry about it, nothing important." Eddy stated. The seven exchanged info about they were going to next when another figure was spotted zipping across the field at high speeds. Ed and Zidane instantly recognized the blue-feathered wings, steepled hat, and glowing red eyes to know this guy must be related to the first Black Waltz. They jumped to a battle position and pulled out their respective weapons. The rest of them just tilted their heads in confusion.  
  
"Anyone want to explain what's going on?" Vivi asked.  
  
"This guy looks like what attacked me and Ed in the ice cavern." spat Zidane. The group nodded their heads and pulled out their own weapons. Vivi, Edd, and Nikki got behind the rest of the gang while the others formed a wall between them and the approaching enemy. He kept coming towards them until he was 10 feet away. Finally, he stopped.  
  
"I am here for the girl," The Black Mage simply stated.  
  
Steiner pulled up his sword. "What do you want with the princess you scoundrel?"  
  
"I'm here to take her back to the castle. You shall not get in my way." Said the Black Mage.  
  
Zidane flipped his daggers into fighting position. "Oh, you don't know how wrong you really are" he grinned. "Lets see what you got."  
  
-Ed and Zidane rushed the Black Mage as a double assault, thinking he would be an easy takedown. They both slashed right at him, but their swords seemed to cut through thin air. -  
  
"Looking for something?" Came an icy voice from behind them. Ed and Zidane swiveled around to see the Black Waltz just hovering there.  
  
"How did he... I could have sworn..." Zidane started. He shrugged and went in for another attack. He swiped again, and his blade went right through him. The Black Waltz was about 3 feet to the right of him.  
  
Black Waltz shook his head. "Tisk tisk, having trouble hitting me? What a shame." he said. Before Zidane knew what had hit him, he was knocked into the air by the Black Waltz, and landed about 10 feet away. Zidane struggled to get up after he landed, and his arm had scrapes all over it.  
  
Steiner, Vivi, Edd, Eddy, and Nikki watched on wide eyed as Zidane was pummeled by the black mage who seemed appear out of thing air. Even Ed was helpless as he attempted a back attack on the black mage. Finally, Zidane was down for the count, and he was going after Ed.  
  
"Run, trouble, bad!" Ed said as he sprinted in circles, dodging Black Waltz as he popped up in front of him every three seconds. Ed eventually fell to the speed of the mage and was hit right in the face with a blizzard spell, knocking him out cold. [Literally] Black Waltz began advancing on Steiner next, and all he could do was defend him from the onslaught. Edd, Eddy, Vivi and Nikki went into a quick huddle to think of something.  
  
"Guys, this is REALLY bad. How are we going to slow this guy down?" Asked Edd.  
  
Nikki shook her head. "I don't know. I can't go help Ed and Zidane right now because this mage will probably snatch me the moment I step out of here."  
  
"There's GOTTA be a weakness to this guy. Everything has a weakness." Vivi said.  
  
Edd began thinking for a moment. "I may have something here... just hold him off for a few more seconds, alright?" The group nodded and went back to defending the princess.  
  
Edd sat back and began to concentrate. (Now, I know I had felt something on my armor earlier today when I was standing around... I just couldn't put my finger on it... Come on... where are those abilities.)  
  
Steiner was slowly losing his defense and was sliding back slightly. His sword was knocked out of his hand and landed a few feet away. With a few more quick blows, he was down for the count. Eddy and Vivi looked at each other.  
  
"You're up Vivi." Eddy said and got in front of Nikki. Vivi concentrated for a second and then pointed his staff at the sky. Dark clouds began to gather and a storm blew in quickly. Thunder began to jump from the clouds and came closer.  
  
"There's no way you can dodge them all... THUNDER!" Vivi shouted. Thunderbolts rained down from the sky and began striking around Black Waltz. He tried to dodge, but eventually, one hit him, then they all homed in on him. He was zapped with about 15 thunderbolts before the storm dissipated. Black Waltz was still standing, and smirking slightly.  
  
"You think a little rainstorm will defeat me. This is how you use thunder!" the mage shouted and pointed his hand out at Vivi. A rather large bolt of lightning flew from his hands and blasted Vivi back a good 20 feet. Vivi was ashen faced and fried from the attack, and fainted.  
  
Eddy looked around franticly as the mage turned to him. "Double-D... hurry it up please..." he whimpered.  
  
-Edd was lost in thought. He had become frantic in his search for the ability, and with the time crunch he was in, things were not looking good. He took a deep breath and let himself go. One word drifted across his mind and his eyes snapped open. -  
  
"I'm ready Eddy." Edd simply stated. He held out his staff and pointed it at Black Waltz. "I think it's time you took things down a bit." Edd said with a smirk. "SLOW!" He shouted. The world seemed to go gray around him as the spell went into effect. Clocks began surrounding the mage and the hands began to spin slower and slower.  
  
Finally, the world regained its color and Edd got to his knees. "He's all yours Eddy!" Eddy gave him a nod and went in for an attack. The mage was moving 10 times slower than normal so Eddy didn't even have to try and attack. A few stabs with his lance, and a few swipes and Black Waltz fell down to the ground, beaten. That last words from him were 'You'll never beat number three' before he turned to dust in the wind.  
  
Eddy walked over to Edd and gave him a pat on the back. "Gotta hand it to ya sock head. That was a nice spell you pulled through with."  
  
Edd smiled a bit "Yeah. I knew it was there, because I had felt it while we were standing around in the village."  
  
"Always one to think ahead, huh?" Eddy said.  
  
"He always thinks too much. Its like his brain never stops thinking about thinking and his thinking thinks about thinking while he... uh..." Ed said.  
  
Eddy slapped his forehead. "Just stop before you hurt yourself AGAIN big guy."  
  
-While Edd, and Eddy were talking, Nikki had gone around and healed Vivi, Ed, Zidane and Steiner of their battle wounds. Ed had been the first one to be brought to his feet, so he had went over to talk to his two buddies. Nikki was still healing the other three, while the Eds began conversing about other things. -  
  
"Hey... uh, guys, when are we gonna get on the ship?" Ed asked. "I wanna ride on the ship Eddy!"  
  
Edd looked behind him and saw the engines to the ship powering up. The propellers began to rotate, and a whirring sound could be heard. Edd felt a bead of sweat run down his neck. "Guys, there's no time, get the others, and Ill try and stall the ship!" he commanded. The three nodded at each other and ran off in two directions. Edd took off towards the back of the ship and scurried up the ladder on the back of it. He scrambled from the top through a door in the back, and sprinted past the engine crew, not even paying attention to who they were. He scrambled up another ladder, popped open a hatch door, jumped outside, and dashed over to the bridge.  
  
"PLEASE WAIT FOR A MOMEN... what the..." Edd said, and looked at the bridge crew. The bridge was run by the same black mages they had seen earlier underground.  
  
Edd scratched his head for a moment. "Ooo... kay. Didn't see that coming," he mumbled. Just then the ship gave a lurch from under his feet and he fell out onto the deck.  
  
"Crap... there's no way they could have gotten on the ship yet!" Edd said. He shook his head and sighed.  
  
------------3 minutes ago with Ed and Eddy--------------  
  
"Alright Ed, you grab Vivi and Nikki, and Ill grab Steiner and Zidane." Eddy ordered and they split, going to gather up their respective people. Ed and Eddy nearly flew over to the others, and wound up dragging them to the back of the slowly warming-up ship.  
  
Eddy pushed Steiner up the ladder first. "Hurry up, we've only got like, 30 seconds!" Steiner quickly climbed up, followed by Ed with Vivi riding on his shoulders. Nikki climbed up next, followed by Zidane. The ship gave a sudden lurch forward and it began to pick up speed. Eddy was forced to sprint after it and take a running dive towards the ladder. He caught onto the lowest rung with one hand and began to dangle helplessly in midair.  
  
"I know you guys are enjoying the fact that we made it on the ship in time, but I'm dangling 5,000 FRICKEN FEET IN THE AIR HERE!!!" Eddy shouted up to the rest of the crew. Zidane climbed back down the ladder and grabbed Eddy by the back of the shirt and threw him up onto the deck. He climbed back up and folded his arms.  
  
"Happy now?" Zidane asked. Eddy gave him a look and walked through a nearby door. The rest of the gang followed him and shut the door. They proceeded through the engine room, where there were black mages manning the engines, but they couldn't get a word out of them. They just kept on working in complete concentration. The gang shrugged and continued past them to the ladder. One by one they filed up and went through the hatch. Eddy and Ed went up first to find Edd leaning over the rail with his head hung low.  
  
"Oh man... what am I gonna do when I get to wherever this ship is going." Edd muttered to himself. "I have no money, no knowledge of this world, nowhere to live. It might take days for me to get back to the village, but by then, everyone else would be gone... its a hopeless situation."  
  
"Do not worry Double-D... we didnt leave you behind!" Ed shouted. Edd swiveled around to see Ed and Eddy standing behind him. He smiled to himself and sighed with relief.  
  
"You couldn't wait for us sock head, could you" Eddy said with a grin.  
  
"Actually, no. Take a look at who is piloting this thing." Edd said, and pointed to the bridge where the black mages were.  
  
Eddy scratched his head. "Those things were working the engine room too."  
  
"So, these guys are piloting the entire ship..." Edd mumbled.  
  
"Boy do I feel a whole lot safer on this thing." Eddy said sarcastically.  
  
-Zidane, Vivi, Nikki, and Steiner popped up from the hatch and came out to the deck. Zidane gave the three Eds a quick smile before heading over to the bridge. The Eds gave each other an 'I dunno' look before the ship gave a sudden lurch to the left, nearly sending the three Eds over the side. All six of the heroes rushed over to see Zidane piloting the ship, and about four black mages standing and watching as Zidane turned the entire ship around. -  
  
Steiner rushed up to Zidane and shook his fist at him. "Just what do you think you are doing?" he shouted.  
  
"I'm turning this ship around towards South Gate, what does it look like I'm doing?" Zidane simply stated, and kept turning the steering wheel. Steiner just sighed and shook his head. Little did the seven know that they were being watched from afar.  
  
"Soon... very soon I shall eliminate all of you..." The voice said and jumped from its ship. It flew straight for the cargo ship and landed on the deck.  
  
Edd popped his head up. He was sure he had heard something. He glanced around to see the black mages going out onto the deck where there was...  
  
"Good lord... when will it end!" Edd moaned. Out on the deck stood Black Waltz number three, with the normal two red slits for eyes, blue feathered wings, and a staff that stood a good 5 feet high.  
  
"Guys... we may have a slight problem." Edd muttered and pointed out onto the deck. Everyone groaned when they saw their newest foe standing out on the deck.  
  
-They were about to make battle plans when the black mages began to attack first. They all charged up a fire spell, but Black Waltz got his attack off first. Every black mage out on deck was struck with a thundara spell, and was sent flying in every direction. Like bowling pins after a strike, they landed everywhere, and some even flew off the side of the deck. Some of the lightning struck the cargo hold and barrels began tumbling into the mist below. That was the last straw for Vivi...-  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vivi screamed and ran out onto the deck. Edd ran after him, and the same went with Ed, Eddy, and Steiner. Zidane hung back with Nikki, who was controlling the ship.  
  
"You better stay here and steer the ship Nikki." Zidane said. "Its up to you to decide where we are going from here." he finished, and ran out with the rest of the gang.  
  
"So, you think you will be able to stop me?" Black Waltz asked. "I am much stronger than my brethren."  
  
"Yeah, whatever. Now, lets see if you can put the money where your mouth is!" Eddy shouted, and charged Black Waltz with his lance. "DOUBLE STRIKE" he shouted, and attempted to hit with the tip of his lance, but Black Waltz was too quick for him. He merely grabbed the rod, and stripped it away from Eddy, leaving him defenseless.  
  
Eddy put his hand on his neck and smiled. "Err... best two outta three?" he said, before being smashed in the face with his own lance. He flew across the deck and landed in an unconscious heap. Black Waltz simply turned back to the group and grinned maliciously. "Does anyone else dare to challenge me?"  
  
Edd slapped his forehead. (I'm really gonna need to work with him on that 'Fools rush in' thing if we get out of this alive.)  
  
Zidane readied his daggers and stepped up to the 'challenge' offered by Black Waltz 3. "Looks like its up to me to take this guy down." he mumbled to himself, and sprang into action. He attacked fast and furiously, swiping right, left, up, down, switched blade positions, double sliced, but it always seemed like Black Waltz 3 was always one step ahead of him. Finally, Black Waltz blocked the left slice, and grabbed Zidane's right arm. He twisted both arms behind his back, nearly breaking both of them. He then tossed Zidane aside like a rag doll and went back to the four who were left.  
  
Edd and Vivi were behind Ed and Steiner, who were sweating nervously. Finally, when things began looking bad, Edd came up with an attack plan.  
  
"Guys, hold him off for a moment... I need to get something ready." Edd said, and pulled Vivi back to whisper his plan to him.  
  
"Master Duo... I don't know how long we can hold this fiend off..." Steiner said.  
  
"Please Steiner... one minute is all we need." Edd said. Steiner gave Edd a nod and motioned for Ed to get next to him. Black Waltz began attacking both of them, but they were holding steady. Meanwhile, Edd was telling Vivi of a possible plan.  
  
"So... you know the sword magic we used on Steiner's sword?" Edd whispered.  
  
Vivi nodded. "Are you thinking of using that... we cant even hit this guy."  
  
"Trust me, we don't need to hit him... if this works how I want it too." Edd said.  
  
"Alright. So what's the plan?" Vivi asked.  
  
Edd took a long breath in. "You know how if two elements hit each other, on is usually stronger than the other, and a chain reaction begins?" he began. "Well... If I use Fire on Steiner's sword, and you use Blizzard on Ed's sword, then maybe a big enough reaction will take place to get Black Waltz!"  
  
Vivi thought for a moment. "Alright... but I think you should use Blizzard on Ed's sword... you know him better." Edd nodded.  
  
"Master Duo... we cannot hold this beast off any longer!" Steiner shouted.  
  
"Yeah... what he said!" Ed said.  
  
"Hang on guys... just one more second." Edd said. "All right... get ready, and do exactly what I tell you to do!" he continued. "Ready Vivi?"  
  
Vivi nodded. "You bet... FIRE SWORD!" he shouted, and infused Steiner's sword with fire magic.  
  
"BLIZZARD SWORD!" Edd shouted, and an icy chill swept over Ed's sword. Ed nearly dropped his sword from the unexpected chill, but held on tight.  
  
"GUYS, HIT YOUR SWORDS TOGETHER!" Edd shouted. Ed and Steiner looked at each other and shrugged. The smashed their swords together and the reaction began. A hissing sound could be heard, then a huge wave of steam swept over Black Waltz. Popping could be heard as the steam began to turn a dark violet color. The steam caught on fire, iced over, and then dissipated, leaving a worn and torn Black Waltz number three. He shook his fist at Edd and Vivi and took flight back to his air car. Edd jumped up and punched the air in victory as Ed, Vivi, and Steiner began to cheer.  
  
"Excellent idea Master Duo. Now, shall we get your friend and that monkey and go to the bridge to see how the princess is doing?" Steiner said. Edd gave him a quick nod and Steiner went over and grabbed Eddy and Zidane. Ed and Edd went back to the bridge while Vivi stood out on deck. There was a black mage hat hanging on the side of the ship and Vivi was staring there with his head down. Edds eyes shifted from him to the approaching South Gate and then his jaw dropped. South Gate was slowly closing and they were still far away from it.  
  
"Guys. South Gate is closing on us." Edd said. "We gotta make this thing go faster." He began playing with various switches in the bridge until he found one that made the engines rev up.  
  
"Sit back and hang on tight people... this is going to be a bumpy ride!" He shouted.  
  
-The airship sailed through the sky as South Gate closed more and more. The engines were working double-time as the airship hurled itself towards their ever shrinking window of opportunity. Closely behind them followed Black Waltz number three in his quick little air car. He was not going to let them get away so easily. He fired off a few rounds of thunder at the airship, missing by inches each time. Vivi took notice to this and blasted him with his own round of fire. This knocked Black Waltz off course and allowed for the cargo ship to continue its mad dash through south gate. They slipped through the first gate by inches and began speeding for the second gate that was also ready to slam shut. Black Waltz slipped in right behind them and continued his pursuit. He fired off one more shot and this time it hit home. The entire ship was knocked left as the spell made impact. Vivi was nearly thrown off the side of the ship, but Ed rushed out to grab him in the knick of time. With Vivi hanging over the side, the ship hurdled towards their ever-shrinking window of opportunity. With one last fire spell, Vivi blasted Black Waltz right out of the sky. The cargo ship flew right out of the gate, just as it slammed shut, leaving Black Waltz to slam headfirst right into the wall. -  
  
Chapter End ------------------------------  
  
Well... that certainly went well. Two fights in one chapter, a new spell, a new combo (Interesting to say the least :P). And it only took me about two weeks to write it. I swear, marching band and school sucks the free time right outta ya.  
  
Coming up next chapter: The Eds explore the big city of Lindblum... after meeting the regent of course. Then they get ready for the upcoming festival of the hunt.  
  
Be sure to read the next chapter, "ED in the big city"  
  
You know the drill people... you read, then review... I get more chapters written, and everyone is happy.  
  
This is Author Kirby, over and out. 


	10. Intermission I Stuff Happened

Author Kirby here.  
  
Well.... this is normally where a new chapter would go... but I've decided to throw in a little... "Disc intermission" into my story. This is where I'm gonna put anything from possible story outlook for the next 6-10 chapters, to crazy ideas... even asking for suggestions for anything in particular. So pretty much anything can happen.  
  
Now... enjoy a short break from the mayhem of a complex plot... sort of.  
  
Intermission I. And then, stuff happened.  
----------------------------------------  
  
So... I'm guessing you all have been wondering where I have been for the past... oh say, 2 months. Unfortunately a big thing called life slapped me in the face as I became overly busy with the start of school and another thing called after school Marching Band practices. Believe me... adjusting to an entirely (almost) new lifestyle and writing a story at the same time is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. So... I've had a bit of... how do you say... writer's restriction.  
  
Anyways... I never did forget about this story... I just put it on the backburners to wait for the right time to bring back. Hopefully I can pull out a little creativity from everywhere and get another set of chapters done that will lead me straight into the end of disc one (where you will more than likely see ANOTHER one of these), but... yeah. To sum everything up... maintaining honor roll, a life, and a story is a very daunting task indeed. So... please guys, cut me a bit of slack the next time I suddenly decide to drop off the face of the planet. :)  
  
Now... possible outlook into further chapters. Got a few ideas in mind... reviewers... this is your moment to tell me what you like and don't like. Believe me... a story everyone likes is easier to write for me.  
  
-Coming up next chapter. Eds are gonna drop into Lindblum after a narrow escape... and what can be worse than stores, and Eddy with a little extra cash on hand. You tell me. (And I do mean that literally people... you tell me what you want)  
-After that, we manage to find the Eds somehow plopped into the middle of the Monster hunt... the only question is... who is going to win, and what's gonna happen afterwards?  
-Coming after that, we find a certain group traveling through the plains... taking a brief stop be chocobo forest and the Qu marsh. Then it's off to Gizamalukes Grotto for a bit of bad luck.  
-Afterwards, we check up on our friends in south gate. What's gonna happen here, and where is it gonna take them?  
-Proceeding on, we see one group exploring bermecia. They are gonna find a surprise there... a BIG one.  
  
There's a bit of insight to what you guys should expect... and I shall now close this little bit with an anonymous quote.  
  
"Sometimes... life really hates you... so just hate it back"  
  
This is Author Kirby, Over and out. 


	11. ED in the Big City

Author Kirby here. 

Hey everybody... I'm not dead :D Or maybe I was and just came back... I'll let you decide.

Anyways... if you had read the intermission I posted last time, you'd understand why I kinda... dropped off the face of the planet without leaving a single clue as to where I disappeared to. I should actually be thanking The Mighty Hiei. He gave me the review that inspired me to keep working... so everyone thank The Mighty Hiei!

Now... Chapters may still come slower... but I'll try and make it a reasonable time period from now on (TRYING to make it a month, to 3 weeks per chapter. At best, aiming to get a chapter in on the first of every month.) I have taken all of the ideas in the reviews into consideration... stuck a little creativity into them, blended them on high for a few days, baked at 98.6 F in my brain... and came out with a fresh chapter. (Or something like that) One last note.... this chapter actually was turning out a bit big... so I split into 2 parts... otherwise... I don't know what may have happened.

So before I make anymore lame expressions... the Ed's are back!

Disclaimer: YEP, SAME PLACE AS ALWAYS.

Chapter 9: ED in the Big City. (Part one)  
-----------------------------------------

-So... there's this partially destroyed cargo ship barely hovering through the air, cruising towards a city called Lindblum, at maybe 100mph. On it are seven stow-away's who hijacked the ship, and just battled it out with a black mage from who knows where. The South Gate was just nearly destroyed in an explosion, and their ship couldn't possibly clear the gates at Lindblum, could it? So, can things really get any worse? Murphy's law, do your stuff! -

Edd paced around the deck. "Well... I don't see how things can possibly get any worse."

Ed popped up behind him. "Of course you can't... you can't see into the future... ooooo," he said mysteriously. "Or can you... Double-D, are you hiding something from us?"

Edd just shook his head and sighed. "Never a dull moment with you Ed." and with that, he walked over to the side of the ship. Ed just shrugged and resumed running around the deck, laughing like his normal, carefree self.

Back in the cabin, Sara was piloting the ship towards the city of Lindblum, while Steiner and Vivi were administering potions to Eddy and Zidane.

Eddy groaned and rubbed his head. "Anyone get the license number of that Black Mage?" he asked groggily.

Zidane sat up too and put his hand to his head. "Man... Remind me to never try and do a one on one again with something like that." he mumbled. Zidane stood up and stretched his muscles out to try and relax them while Eddy limped out onto the deck to see what Edd was doing. Vivi and Steiner tried to call him back, but he just shook his head and said something about needing fresh air. He limped halfway across the deck before being hit by about 300lbs of pure Ed.

"Eddy, you stopped being unconscious!" Ed exclaimed and embraced Eddy in a bone-crushing hug. Eddy tried his best to try and get away, but he was still too weak. Lucky for him, Edd had seen the whole thing and had run over to get Ed off of Eddy.

"Now Ed, Eddy needs to have a bit of space for now." Edd scolded, and Ed hung his head, while Eddy snickered a bit. "As for you Eddy, you should be resting, or at least trying to on this barely flying contraption." he continued and Eddy frowned.

"Geez, you're worse than my mother, chill, will you." Eddy grumbled and walked over to the side of the ship to check out the view. Ed followed and looked over the side as well. Edd decided he had nothing better to do and went to the side to join his friends.

-Over the course of the next two hours, lots of things happened on such a small aircraft. The engine died nearly three times, but was kicked back into gear (literally kicked) by Eddy. Ed managed to almost fall off twice, and Edd nearly lost his hat in the process. Eddy managed to stab a hole in the side of the ship with his lance, and Ed somehow managed to get his foot stuck under a piece of wood. All in all, they were pretty bored when the ride came to an end, and the ship sailed closer and closer to Lindblum. The three Eds had slacked jaws as they stared at the spectacle before them. Towering nearly 250 feet in the air was a bustling city with a giant airship dock in the middle. All around the city were numerous airships and air bikes, transporting various goods all around the city. There was a great commotion below them as people walked, talked, played, ran, jumped, and shopped. As the airship passed through the first outer gate, they were amazed at how tightly packed everything looked, and how they were going to see it all while they were here. They slowly made their way into the central airship dock and landed right inside the castle. The engine gave out right there, and well... that was it. The seven filed off of the airship and made their way down the red carpeting. -

Edd looked around, fascinated by the medieval air to this place. "It's... incredible. The architecture is so amazing."

Eddy, for once, couldn't contradict what Edd had said. "These are some nice digs."

Ed happily bounced down the carpet behind everybody. "This is a castle, a castle this is. Its big and large and pretty and stuff and its got nice rugs with frizz!" He sang, not caring that everyone was staring at him. The seven continued down the pathway until three guards stopped them. Two were wearing blue uniforms, while one was wearing red.

"Please, state your business here." The guard in red commanded.

Garnet stepped forward. "I am Princess Garnet til Alexandros. I have traveled here to see the regent."

The two blue guards snickered but a quick hand signal from the Red Guard cut them off. "Now, come to your senses, please. The princess would not travel on an airship like that, much less with a crew like this."

Steiner took a step forward and shook his fist. "Now see here, the princess has been traveling in desperate times, and was forced to use desperate measures."

The Red Guard merely smiled. "I am to suppose that you are the princesses royal guard, Rusty?" he said, putting a little emphasis on the Rusty. "I suppose I'll give you a chance. Do you have any proof that you are indeed the princess?"

Garnet dug into the collar of her shirt and pulled out a pendant. "This is the falcons claw, the royal jewel of Alexandria. I'm sure that you are familiar with the passing down of the jewel to the princess?" she said, trying to hold back a smile.

The Red Guard stepped back, looking at the jewel. "Very well then... I shall... get the proper person to check the... validity of your statement and item." He said, and ran off with his two guards. They only had to wait a moment before a man came back with them. The seven overheard comments along the lines of "pendant" and "fake". The minister took one look at Garnet and dismissed the guards. He then went up and gave her a warm hug.

"It's very nice to see you after all these years Garnet." he said.

Garnet smiled and nodded. "Its nice to see you too, uncle." Anyone remember what this guys name is?

Her uncle looked around for a moment, taking in the new faces. "I don't believe we've met before."

Edd stepped up. "I'm Edd... but you can call me Duo. You'll see why in a second. This is Ed"

"Boing!"

"Eddy"

"Yo"

"And Vivi"

"Pleased to meet you sir." They all responded.

The uncle just nodded. "Well, its nice to meet you all. I hope you enjoy your stay in Lindblum. Oh, and you can call me Minister if you want." He said and walked off, beckoning for the others to follow.

-The seven followed down a few hallways, and eventually came across a large lift. "A technological marvel" Edd called it. The lift took them up a floor and they found themselves in a large foyer. The three Eds had half a mind to wander off before they were called over to a large door. Inside were numerous statues lining the walls, and grand red curtains draped across the walls. A grand window was placed in the back of the room to let light in. The minister told them to wait while he got the regent. Edd wandered around, looking at the various statues of past rulers and reading a bit about them via the little plates under them. Ed resumed wandering aimlessly around, hoping or maybe not not to crash into anything. Eddy resigned to a corner of the room, due to nothing interesting him that much. A few minutes passed before a loud rumbling alerted them to the front of the room. All of a sudden, the ceiling lowered itself to the ground and a piece of floor was placed in a slot near the front of the room. And on the little piece of flooring was...-

"Uhh, what's with the empty throne?" Eddy asked. His questions were soon answered though. From behind the throne popped a little creature draped in a red cape. It had a rather large white moustache, and was maybe 2 feet tall. To Eddy, it looked like a giant cockroach. It was, in fact, an ooglop.

Steiner took a step forward. "This is not the regent. Now please stop this foolishness and bring us the real regent at once!" he demanded.

The ooglop waved its hand, trying to signal silence. "Please Steiner, I've undergone a few unfortunate circumstances since we last met."

Garnet stepped forward and bowed. "Its very nice to see you again Uncle Cid."

"This is the regent?" Edd said, speechless.

"Strange world." Eddy said with the same tone.

Cid cocked his head. "I don't believe we have met before."

"Oh..." Edd began.

"I'm Eddy. Nice place this is." Eddy interrupted.

"Hello my name is Ed!" Ed followed.

"...Yes. Well, my name is Edd, but you can call me Duo, to distinguish between my friend right here." Edd said, and gestured to Ed.

Cid nodded. "Very well. Welcome to Lindblum. I hope you enjoy your stay. I really hope you don't mind, but the rest of us have a few... important matters to discuss for now. If you will kindly follow one of my soldiers, they will gladly take you to the inn for the night." A soldier wearing a light blue uniform stepped into the room and motioned for the Eds to follow.

"I'll meet up with you at the inn, alright guys?" Zidane said as the Eds left the room. The soldier led the Eds back down the elevator, past the airship dock, and around to an open platform. A light blue vehicle was sitting on some cables, and there was an odd clock next to the platform that Edd attempted to decipher.

The soldier gave the Eds some brief instructions. "When you get on this bus, it will take you all around Lindblum. Your stop is the Business District. Once you get off at the station there, right across the street is the inn. I hope you all have a good night." He said, and backed away from the door. The blades of the small, but powerful propellers began to groan and spring to life. The airbus took off on the cables and the Eds were knocked to the ground. There was nobody else on the bus, so the Eds each took a seat next to a window.

Edd looked out his window. "Its like a midevil fantasy, except the technological inventions are eons ahead of its time." There were people bustling about underneath them, trading, buying, selling, playing, working, and everything else in between.

"This is my fault." Eddy said grimly. Ed and Edd only stared at him with complete confusion.

"I'm sorry Eddy, but exactly WHAT is your fault?" Edd questioned.

Eddy stood up. It seemed like he had a lot on his mind. "It's all my fault that we're here. That we came here, that we're stuck here. If I hadn't been so stupidly selfish and greedy for that 20 bucks that you lost..."

"I lost!?" Edd interrupted.

"... Sorry." Eddy apologized. "We lost, then we wouldn't be trapped in this stupid place. Since we've gotten here, I've been furious at myself, and been trying to hide it, but it always came out the wrong way. I tried to completely destroy the monsters that came after us to try and make it up to you guys, but even then I almost failed. I could have gotten myself killed..."

"Eddy..." Ed said. "It cant be your fault, because I'm the one who forgot to tie my shoes in the morning and tripped over the log."

"You know Eddy... maybe fate called us here for a reason. Something we need to do here. Nothing happens just because it happens. Everything happens for a reason." Edd said. "Maybe we were supposed to help save the princess from that… vile, obese queen. Something may have happened if we weren't called here. Something may happen in the future. I don't know. What I do know is that you don't have to beat yourself up over this. We don't blame you at all."

Eddy looked up. "Really?"

"You bet, because we're your friends, and bestest friends of friendlyness we are. Friends stick together like glue and sticky tape" Ed said, and gave Eddy a big hug.

Eddy just sighed and smiled. "You guys are the best."

"That's what friends are..." The airbus skidded to a halt and the Eds flew to the floor.

"Business District!" Came a voice from outside.

Eddy got up and brushed himself off. "Talk about ruining a moment" he scowled. Ed and Eddy just laughed and got up too. The three Eds got out and onto the platform. They watched the airbus take off again, and then turned and went down the stairs.

"Now... the soldier said to go across the street to find the..."

"INN!" Ed shouted and ran to a door across the street. Edd and Eddy just followed Ed into the inn where Ed was running around in circles. There was a man behind the counter who was watching Ed with slight amusement.

Eddy went to stop Ed from running around while Edd went to the counter. "Excuse me sir... but how much will a room be for the three of us?"

The innkeeper looked at the three of them, and smiled. "You three must be from out of town. Am I correct?" Edd gave a quick nod. "Well then... I'll give you a discount. 50 gil for each of you."

Edd dug around in his pocket and pulled out a few coins, trying to remember how to calculate currency. Eventually he got 150 gil from his pocket and put it on the counter.

The innkeeper smiled and gave them a key. "Thank you. Your room is upstairs, the third one on the right." Edd thanked the man and went upstairs along with his friends. He scanned the hallway, and went to the third door on the right. Inside were two large beds next to each other, and a small dresser on the side of the room. There was a window on the wall that looked out to the rest of the district.

"I ain't sharing a bed with unibrow here." Was the first thing Eddy said.

Edd shook his head. "You wont have to... I have a sleeping bag." he smiled. Eddy sighed with relief and jumped onto one of the beds. Ed pounced onto the other one, and Edd unfurled his sleeping bag. The three Eds bid each other good night and drifted off into soundless slumber.

------------Sometime in the Morning-----------

-If and only if they had roosters in Lindblum would have Edd awoken on time that day. Once again, we find Edd sleeping soundly on the floor, and Ed and Eddy silently conversing with each other. Ed stuffed his fist into his mouth to stop the laughing and Eddy chuckled silently. From who knows where, Eddy pulled a bucket of water... ice cold too. He tiptoed over to Edd, who was sleeping soundly in his under-armor. Slowly, Eddy pulled out a very wet, and VERY cold metal tube. With utter precision, he slipped it right under Edd's neck. Edd had currently propped himself up... but he was bound to slip down soon. Eventually, his head fell off his pillow... onto the metal tube and...-

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF... GOOD LORD THAT IS COLD!" Edd shouted, his eyes bloodshot, and his hat askew... nearly off.

Eddy merely shook his head, and spoke in soothingly mocking tones. "Now Edward, for the past few days, you have overslept... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Edd rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. (Who does he think he is, my mother?) he thought. "Apparently my sleep schedule has been thrown out of whack ever since I started using magic and doing so much physical activity. It takes a lot out of you if it happens all of a sudden." Edd got up and put on his robe. He thought about putting on the rest of his armor, but decided against it; because he had a feeling it would just slow him down today. The three Eds headed downstairs to see the smiling face of the innkeeper, and Zidane.

Edd ran over and gave Zidane a big hug. "Hi Mr. Whatever Your Name Is! We had a great time on the bus. It was really fast and it was fun and..."

"I'm sure it was all super Ed, but you're... crushing... lungs." Zidane spat out, and Edd and Eddy pulled the big lump off of him. Zidane took in a big breath of air and hit himself in the chest to get the oxygen flowing again before speaking again. "It's great to see you actually made it here... not that I didn't think you could." He added quickly, after getting a disapproving look from Edd. "But let me tell you guys what's going on today." Zidane pulled up a seat at a nearby table and sat down. "So... I'm sure all of you are excited about going sightseeing... just want to let you in on a few things. First of all... I'm going to let you guys roam free today."

Eddy grinned. (Good) He thought to himself.

"So... no supervision?" Edd asked.

"Nope... I actually have some things to do today... so I'm going to let you guys sightsee on your own. Besides... there's too much out there for me to show you." Zidane explained. "Plus... I didn't want to get stuck baby-sitting you guys... no offense."

Eddy grinned. "None taken."

Edd sighed and shook his head. "Lord this is going to be just like back at home. The three of us and no parents telling us what to do."

Zidane stood up and pushed his chair in. "Just one more thing... I'll be back here at sun-down to take you back to the castle... so try not to be late," he said with a grin. "Oh... and..." He tossed a few coins on the table, which promptly disappeared into Eddy's pocket. "See you guys later." and with that, he left out the door.

The three Eds looked at each other. "So... where do we start first?" Edd asked. Eddy just said to follow him, and he walked out the door with Ed in tow. Edd sighed to himself. (Lord... I really need to work with him on that 'fools rush in' thing.) "EDDY, WAIT UP!" he shouted and ran after the two Eds.

---------------End of Part One--------------

So… There is part one. Now all I have to do is type part 2 in my spare time. I think I got my life straightened out for the most part.

Eddy showed a bit of weakness today, didn't he? You all knew he was going to crack eventually. Then again, Eddy has a heart too you know.:)

Coming up in part 2: The Eds go shopping… Of course there is going to be some chaos… and maybe a bit of mischief. Eddy has money now… so everyone better run. Next time in Final Fantasy Eds.

So… I think that should be everything I need to say.

This is AK, over and out.


	12. Festival of the ED

Kirby ATW here...

Hey guys... I got the motivation to update this story.

No matter what people will tell you... this story isn't dead. It's just on ice.

Either way... this is a story... so read. :)

Disclaimer: Check the first chapter.

----- Chapter 10: Festival of the ED -----

_Now, If you've ever been shopping with Eddy before, you'd know that it involves two things. The first is a LOT of physical exercise to keep up with him. The second is that there is never going to be anything for yourself if you don't buy what you want at first. These two things came true as Ed and Edd ran throughout the streets of Lindblum, trying to keep up with an Eddy with cash. Of course, the streets were packed with people of every race, so it's no wonder that most people got knocked over, and Edd, being the polite person he is, had to help every single one of them up. Either way, Eddy finally got tired, and sat down in front of a fountain in the Business District. Ed and Edd followed close behind... completely out of breath._

Double-D looked like he was having an asthma attack. "Eddy... _pant_... the next ..._pant_... time you decide... _pant_... to run off... _pant_... **please** warn us beforehand."

Ed didn't look too happy either. "Yeah... imagine if you got lost and stuff and we couldn't find you because you had no idea where you needed to not be going."

Eddy glared at both of them. "Have you ever **seen** this much cash before?" He grinned, rubbing two gold coins in front of their faces. "How can I **not **resist going off and spending this?"

"Its easy. You stop, and give the coins to us." Edd said, and snatched the coins from the hand of Eddy.

Eddy frowned and grumbled. "Yeah, well you didn't see anything you just had to have, did you?"

"Of course we did." Edd said, "You were just to engrossed with your money to even hear us. Now... where are we?" The three Eds glanced around, looking for a sign that would point them in the right direction. Finally, they saw a big blue banner titled 'Business District; Where you can find most anything you desire'

Edd blinked twice, "Very well then... I did want to check out the item shop before we leave for the inn again." He nodded towards a shop tucked in a corner. "Maybe they have a watch for sale." The three Eds walked over to the shop and stepped inside. Ed make a break straight for the food section, while Eddy went over to the section devoted to 'Rare and possibly dangerous finds.'

Edd on the other hand, went straight up to the manager. "Do you happen to have a watch that I can buy?"

The manager looked at him funny. "A watch? What's a watch"

Edd scratched his head. "You know... something that keeps time and you can wear on your wrist. Like this." Edd rolled up his right sleeve and showed him his broken watch.

The manager looked with interest. "No, I don't believe we sell those. Heck, I've never seen anything like that before. Where did you get it?"

Edd thought quickly for a lie. "Oh, just something from the industrial district. I wasn't sure if they had started mass-producing these yet." He rolled his sleeve back down. "Charming little gadget, may change the world one day..."

"HEY SOCKHEAD, GET OVER HERE!"

Edd excused himself and ran over to where Eddy was. "Yes Eddy?"

Eddy pointed to a colorful flier on the wall, decorated with curled letters and all. Edd took the time to read it out loud. "Festival of the Hunt. The yearly competition that all of our strongest city members love is back this weekend. If you would like to sign up to win fabulous prizes, please sign up at the castle."

Edd stared at the flier and then spoke again. "I dunno Eddy, sounds dan... Eddy?" Double-D could literally see the dust-cloud created by Eddy as he flew out the door.

Ed simply looked at Edd and grinned. "I think he saw something he likes Double-D."

Edd sighed and shook his head. "He is going to get himself hurt one of these days."

_And thus Ed and Edd went on the chase after Eddy again, racing back to the Air Cab station. Five minutes later, Ed and Edd, once again out of breath, were parked on a bench in the station, waiting for the cab to pick them up._

Eddy tapped his foot impatiently. "Come on, come on, I don't have all day!"

"Eddy, impatience is no reason for rudeness." Edd said.

"Yeah... Mr. Impatientness pants." Ed said. Eddy glared at him and Ed frowned.

Silence ensued until Edd asked the question. "So what IS the festival of the hunt?"

A random person sitting on the bench next to them turned and looked at them like they were crazy. "You mean you don't know?"

Edd responded politely. "Actually, we aren't around from here. It's actually our first time in Lindblum."

The man simply rolled his eyes. "That may explain it then. The Festival of the hunt is the yearly event in which monsters are released into the city, and all of the warriors go and compete to see who is crowned champion." He explained. "Each monster they defeat is given a point value, and if you rack up enough points in the hour time limit you're given, then you can have any prize of your choosing."

Eddy's eyes lit up. "Really now... I'm interested. And by interested, I mean **determined** to win this thing now!"

Ed frowned. "Aren't you scared of the monsters?"

Eddy punched the air a few times, "I say bring 'em on. I can take them!"

Edd just sighed and shook his head. "Why does this give me a bad vibe?

"Every year, someone is sent to the infirmary for serious injuries. On that note, the cab is here."

_Right on cue, the blue air cab sped into the station, bringing a whoosh of air right behind it. Papers ruffled as the cab landed, and Eddy nearly leaped into the cab as the door opened, knocking over a relatively short, white haired man. Ed and Eddy just followed, laughing at Eddy and chose their seats. With another gust of air, the cab left, speeding off towards the castle._

_As soon as the cab pulled into the station, it was once again a sprinting pace to keep up with Eddy. Ed and Edd both tried their hardest, but failed as Eddy rounded the second corner. A few moments later, a large crash was heard, and Ed and Edd came around the corner, completely out of breath._

Eddy rubbed his head. "Watch where you're going, will ya?"

"You watch it creep!" Came the voice of Zidane.

Ed smiled and ran over to Zidane, crushing him once again in a bear-hug. "Mr. Whatever your name is! Hullo!"

Zidane eyes began welling up with tears. "Ed... lungs... ow... can't... br... eathe"

"Oh dear. ED!" Edd jumped into action and managed to separate Ed from Zidane.

Zidane dusted himself off and smiled at Ed. "Glad to see you too Ed. Can we... you know... **not** crush my lungs next time we meet?"

Ed nodded, but suddenly remembered something. "Eddy... oh Eddy!"

From below him came a muffled shout. "Ed...gerroff me!" Ed stepped off and grinned. Eddy shot daggers at him and brushed himself off.

"So, what brings you guys to the castle? You could have fit in a good hour of shopping." Zidane asked. "Besides, I was just on my way to the Inn to pick you guys up."

"Well... our ever eccentric Eddy here..."

"How do we sign up for this hunting festival thing?" Eddy blurted out.

Zidane put a hand to his chin and nodded. "_Eh, figures he'd want to sign up. It may be good experience for him anyways._" "So... you want to sign up? Just follow me then." Zidane jerked his thumb over his shoulder and then pivoted in the opposite direction. "I was going to sign up later today anyways." The three Eds followed Zidane up through the castle and into a small room with a blue guard, sitting behind a table. Zidane turned and looked at the three Eds. "Alright... here's where you sign up. It is possible to sign up as a group, should you feel it necessary, but the only drawback is that you guys have to split the prize if you win, and you can only choose one prize." Zidane turned back around and began talking with the soldier behind the table, while the Eds got into a huddle.

Edd began to speak first. "For your safety Eddy, I do think we should do this as a group. This may be a bit much for you."

"Oh come on sock-head. I can take care of myself. Stop babying me and let me go on my own!"

"Think about it though. If you have us to help, you can defeat the monsters faster, and rack up more points. It would assure victory."

"Yeah, but I'd have to **share** my prize then."

"Hey, whats wring with sharing mister?"

"Uhh... theres less for me? Duh Ed!"

"Eddy!"

"Okay, okay, fine. We'll sign up as a group." The Eds turned around and walked up to the table, while Zidane stood off to the side.

The soldier in blue began speaking in a very monotone voice. "Names?"

"Ed"

"Duo"

"Eddy"

"Will you be entering as a group or separately?"

"Group"

"And what would you like as your prize?"

"Gil"

"The maximum amount of Gil you can go for is 10,000. Do you still wish to have this as your prize should you win?"

"Yes"

"Do you acknowledge the fact that the government of Lindblum is in no way responsible for any damage to your person, equipment, or wellbeing in general when you sign this contract. We will not be responsible for any personal injury, or death that may take place while participating in this event, et cetera, et cetera. Do you accept the claims?"

"Yes"

"Please sign on the dotted line, and initial by your names" The Eds do so.

"Thank you for signing up for our annual event. Have a wonderful time."

The Eds and Zidane walked out of the room and began heading off down the halls again.

Edd brought up the first bit of conversation. "So Zidane, have you ever entered this event?"

"You kidding?" Zidane replied. "I've done this for 7 years straight."

"Have you ever won?" Eddy inquired.

Zidane frowned. "Unfortunately, no. I always get beaten out by Freya."

"Who?" The three Eds asked.

"You'll meet her eventually." Zidane said. "And now, we wait."

_Which they did, for around two hours. Not much happened in those two hours that was truly noticeable. The three Eds were taken to a guest room in the wing of the castle to wait, where they found out Vivi was competing as well. Edd and Vivi began talking, while Eddy began instructing Ed on possible battle tactics. Of course, the only thing that Ed picked up in that time frame was "slash at stuff and hope it dies". Vivi began educating Edd a little bit about magic in the world, since he was a magic user himself. Zidane took the opportunity to nap a little bit, all whilst time passed by. Eventually, a guard came and retrieved the five participants and took them off to their respective starting areas. Everyone said good luck to each other and parted ways. The three Eds were to start in the Business District. _

The voice of the regent blared over a loudspeaker system set up throughout the city "Participants in the annual Festival of the Hunt, prepare yourselves, as the monsters will be released momentarily. Please remember the rules. When you kill a monster, pick up the tag with the number on it. Without those tags, your kills are worthless. Try not to get hurt too badly, and if you feel the need to drop out of the competition due to a danger to your health, please head back to the castle on the airlift. Good luck to all contestants, and happy hunting!"

Ed, Edd, and Eddy looked around as gates began rising out of the floor, all with monsters in them, snarling uncomfortably.

Eddy felt a small bit of sweat form on the back of his neck. _"What have I gotten us into?"_ A small ball above each gate gradually turned from green, to yellow, orange, then red... and finally red, where it finally burst, taking down the cage, releasing the monsters in all directions.

Ed gripped his sword tightly, while Edd began preparing himself mentally for the task to ensure his spells would be at maximum power. Eddy spun his staff around a little bit as the monsters came ever closer. Finally, Ed made the first move and rushed towards a wolf-like monster, stabbing it with his sword, making it disappear in a puff of dust. Ed grabbed the little blue tag on the ground and put it in his pocket.

"One down" Edd commented.

"And so many more for the picking" Eddy exclaimed, and leaped into the air, bringing his lance down upon an avian, bringing it down to the ground, along with the blue tag, hooked neatly on the point.

Edd glanced behind Ed, who was doing perfectly fine on his own, and began targeting multiple monsters in his mind. "_I hope this works_" he thought, and envisioned the creatures encased in ice. "**BLIZZARD!**" he shouted, and pointed his staff out. Multiple blasts shot from out of his staff, and honed in on the five or so monsters he had in his mind. All of them were encased in ice, and then shattered to pieces. Edd dashed around and collected the numerous tags that were lying about, casting the occasional fire spell over his shoulder when he saw one of his pals in trouble.

Eventually, the numbers thinned, and Eddy began to complain. "Come on guys, lets blow this Popsicle stand." The three Eds continued throughout the district, Ed slicing through the wolves, Eddy, jumping and taking down the birds, and Edd cleaning up whatever the other two missed. A couple of times, Eddy slipped up, and needed some medical attention from Edd, but it was nothing too serious.

A few minutes later down the road, Edd heard something. "Oh dear, a cry for help!"

"Dads home!" Ed shouted, collecting yet another blue tab. Edd took off down the street towards the shops with Ed and Eddy in tow. They arrived shortly, and not a moment too soon. A rather large creature was attacking another contestant, and the three Eds stared in shock.

"Big..." Ed said.

"Ugly" Eddy commented.

"Oh, honestly... we need to save that poor man!" Edd said, and conjured up a thunder spell. Eddy and Ed nodded at each other and ran. Eddy jumped high into the air, while Ed slid right bedside the beast, slicing it as he went. The beast swiveled, and Ed could barely jump in time to avoid the massive tail. However, that didn't prevent him from getting skewered by the horns on the terrible beast.

"ED!" Edd shouted, and ran over as Eddy landed right on the head of the beast, and jabbed his spear in. The beast howled, trying to buck off Eddy, and managed to throw Ed off and into a wall. Edd followed suit, preparing two potions for the occasion. Ed had a nasty hole right through his lower abdominal area, and didn't look too good in general. Edd practically shoved the two potions down his throat and watched as the wounded area disappeared. Edd dragged Ed to a safe corner and went back to the fight, where Eddy was just thrown off of the beast. He managed to land safely on a rooftop, but that left poor Edd down on the battlefield.

"**THUND... oof**" was all Edd could get out before he was thrown across the arena by the massive tail. Eddy just watched as his two friends were mercilessly attacked, when something inside of him snapped. It started at the three hairs on his head, and traveled all the way down to the toes in his boots. Eddy began glowing a violent blue, and his eyes filled with power. Eddy had hit trance. He jumped down from the building and landed right in front of the monster.

"**HEY MINCEMEAT! YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME! WELL COME GET IT**" Eddy jumped high in the air, higher than anyone had ever jumped before. As the monster became a tiny speck, Eddy turned face down, pointing his lance, and preparing for a large attack. His feet touched the bottom of the clouds as he sped towards the earth at rapid speeds. Halfway down, he began spinning around, so fast that he became a shining spark in midair. As Eddy gained velocity, the he began shining, and pinpointed himself straight at the red beast. Only two words escaped from his mouth which stated the nature of attack. "**DRILL DIVE**" Eddy crashed into the beast, slicing though him like butter, causing an earthquake when he hit the ground. As the monster disappeared into a cloud of dust, a pair of eyes watched from the rooftops. As silently as they had appeared, they vanished into the sky without a trace.

Eddy lost the color of his trance, and went back to his normal, true colors. Completely exhausted, he stooped down picked up the bright yellow tag that was left over from the dust, and held it up to the sun. It glinted with a sparkle of victory. His happiness was short lived, when he turned around, and saw Ed and Edd slumped against the walls. Eddy's mouth turned into a frown as he rushed over to his two fallen comrades.

"Come on sock head... you can't be that hurt!" he said, and pulled a potion from the bag next to him, pouring it into the mouth of Edd. Unfortunately, it had no effect, and Eddy tried the same thing on Ed, but still nothing happened. Eddy began pacing around frantically.

"Crap... crap... hes gone... gone... I can't BELIEVE this!"

"Who's gone?" Zidane questioned. He had just come around the corner after hearing shouts and feeling the minor earthquake.

Eddy swiveled around, nearly taking off Zidane's head in the process with his lance. "We got into this fight with this huge ugly, and I killed it, but it killed Ed and Duo in the process!" Eddy explained in a flurry of words. "This is all my fault... I never should have dragged them into this..."

As Eddy continued his fountain of words, Zidane simply smiled and reached into his pocket. "Eh, don't fret. Just give them one of these" he said and pulled out two golden feathers.

Eddy stopped long enough to look at the feathers. Each one sparkled red and orange, giving off a comforting warmth that gave him hope. "Zidane. How the heck are two feathers going to help me!"

Zidane just chuckled. "This is a phoenix down. It contains the essence of the legendary bird Phoenix, who has been known to revive fallen warriors after battle. Just, throw them over Ed and Duo over there and watch."

_Eddy grabbed the feathers and walked over to the corner in which Ed and Double-D were slumped. Eddy tossed the two phoenix downs into the air, and crossed his fingers. Slowly but surely, the feathers gracefully floated down and landed on top of the two Ed boys. A spotlight shined from above, and the feathers disappeared into the air, sprinkling the red and orange dust over their respective fighters. Eddy watched in amazement as his two friends opened their eyes, and looked around, wondering why Eddy looked close to tears._

"... Hi Eddy!" Ed exclaimed, and for once in his life, Eddy ran over and hugged Ed to death.

"ED! You big lump, I missed you!" Eddy exclaimed.

Edd sat up and looked over at Ed and Eddy. Ed was trying to get away from Eddy (_"Hes clingy Double-D. Get him off!")_ while Eddy continued to follow suit. Edd stood up and brushed himself off, observing his surroundings. Finally, he spotted Zidane and walked over, straightening his hat.

"Did I miss something here?" Edd inquired.

Zidane just shrugged. "I dunno. Apparently Eddy killed the monster that killed you."

Edd took a step back. "Wait... **killed**?" he said, breathless. "You mean... we're ghosts?"

Zidane shook his head. "Nah. We revived you with a phoenix down."

Edd put a finger to his temple and thought for a moment. "_They can even cheat death in this world. Is there anything they can't do?_"

_Eventually, Eddy finally stopped chasing Ed, and went back over to Zidane and Double-D. All four of them agreed that they had had enough fighting today, and went back to the airlift to be taken back to the castle. There were only a few minutes left in the hour, so it didn't matter to them either way. As they arrived back at the castle, a soldier greeted them, and instructed them to go upstairs to the throne room to wait. As they walked through the halls, Eddy couldn't help wondering about his trance he had just experienced a few moments before. Finally, as they all arrived in the throne room, they saw a few people already there, mainly Vivi, Nikki, and Steiner. There was also a large table with massive amounts of food on it, and several place settings neatly adorned with red napkins. Around the table were large cushioned seats. Ed, Edd, and Eddy all took up three seats on the left side, and began to converse._

"So, Zidane tells me you managed to kill the beast all on your own." Edd stated. "I'm quite impressed, but let me ask, how did you do it?"

Eddy stood up on his seat and stuck a pose. "Ah, it was nothing sock head. Any who, when I saw you and Ed getting beat up on from that rooftop, something within me just snapped, and I started to glow blue."

"Eddy went glowy! Aww, I'm so proud!" Ed exclaimed.

Edd stroked his chin. "Impressive Eddy, so what did you do?"

"What I naturally do best. I jumped... really high. So high in fact, that my feet touched the clouds. Then I turned into a drill and fell to the ground, straight through that monster, saving the day!" Eddy said, finishing with another pose, and sitting back down. Ed and Edd gave a polite clap and smiled.

Many more people began filing into the room now, and soon it was full of people, including one person dressed in red, carrying a lance similar to the one Eddy carried. Eddy gave a glance and an angry stare in that direction, but it was ignored. Soon enough, the regent came in and hopped up to his throne, carrying a plaque, and a brown satchel.

"The results have been tallied, and we have a new champion this year! A big congratulations to a Misters Ed, Duo, and Eddy! They won this year with 287 points, shattering last years record by a good 20 points!" The regent said excitedly. Which means that on top of the 10,000 gil that you have won, you get an extra 5,000, bringing your total to 15,000 gil. Let us give these fine warriors a hand!"

Ed, Edd and Eddy stood up from their seats and ran up to the throne to claim their prize. Ed took the longest, since he still had a healing hole in his body, and Edd took a longer time due to just regular aches and pains.

Eddy leaped up to the throne and grabbed the bag from the regent, opening it and staring at the multicolored coins inside with dollar signs in his eyes. Edd stepped up and politely accepted the plaque, while Ed just stood in front, grinning like his normal self.

"Thank you, thank you. While that final kill was all me, I have to give some of the credit to my two pals right here. Without them, I don't think I would have made it out alive." Eddy said, and more clapping ensued. The three Eds bowed, and walked back to their seats, ready for the feast to begin.

"So, if everyone is ready, I do believe we ca.."

**SLAM**

The door to the throne room was thrown open, and in crawled a soldier who looked similar to the mysterious figure in red. Speaking of that person, they jumped up immediately and rushed over to help the fallen soldier.

"What happened?" came a female voice.

"Black mages... Burmecia... help." was all the soldier could get out before he collapsed, and three medical officials came in and took him away. Cid and the minister began conversing silently, while everyone watched the female clad in red.

"Freya... whats wrong?" Zidane asked.

"They're destroying my hometown." Freya responded sadly. "We have to go and help."

"And you shall!" exclaimed Cid. "We have no troops to spare since we have everyone looking for Queen Brahne."

"Ill go!" Eddy exclaimed.

"Ed will assist as well!" Ed said.

"There's no way to keep me away from this action." Zidane responded.

"You guys can't go without me!" Vivi said.

"I'm sure you could use a second mage." Edd offered.

"I can help." Nikki said. Everyone turned and looked at her.

Steiner shook his head. "Absolutely not. We need you safely in this castle."

Nikki shook her head. "Steiner, you can't keep treating me like a kid anymore. This is my fight too."

"Nikki, Steiner is right." Edd said. "It really wouldn't be safe for you."

Nikki backed away, and clutched something to her chest. "Alright... if you insist. But if you need more reinforcements, I **will** be coming."

All of the warriors began conversing with their backs to the table, while the Minister and Cid conversed as well. Nobody saw Nikki pour something into the food, and slip a bottle back into her clothes.

Cid eventually broke off conversation to call attention to everyone. "Well, there's no sense in going immediately and unprepared. Please, sit down and eat everyone!"

Everyone nodded and sat down. As everyone began helping themselves to various pieces of cuisine, Nikki glanced around, looking at everyone, seeing what they ate. Steiner noticed that Nikki was not eating much food, and insisted that she eat something, but she passed. Eventually, a soft 'thump' was heard, and everyone looked at Ed, who had fallen face down in his mashed potatoes.

"Ed! Its impolite to fall asleep at the table... Eddy! Not you too!" Edd exclaimed as Eddy fell asleep as well. Zidane soon dosed off, along with Freya, Vivi, the Minister, and Cid.

Steiner grabbed his neck and began to choke. "Forgive me princess, for I should have checked the food for poison!"

"Steiner... I didn't put any on yours. Or on Duo's" Nikki admitted.

Edd raised an eyebrow. "Nikki... why in the world did you poison our food?"

Nikki shook her head. "Not poison, sleeping root. Enough to knock them out so we can get far enough away."

Edd held up a hand. "Wait... what are you trying to say?"

"I'm worried for my mother. I wish to return to Alexandria. Perhaps I can talk her out of whatever she is planning." Nikki explained.

"So you chose us as your bodyguards? A fine idea princess. Hurry, we must be off!" Steiner jumped, and walked to the door.

Edd stayed behind for a few minutes. "Give me a minute, I want to assure my friends of my safety." Steiner and Nikki shrugged and walked to the door, while Edd pulled out a sticky note and a pen from his pockets. He began writing.

_Dear Ed and Eddy._

_If you're reading this, I'm probably long gone by now. Do not worry for my safety fellows, as I am perfectly fine. Nikki simply felt the need to return to the castle, and chose Steiner and me to accompany her. This will mean that we will be apart for quite a while, so I want you two to behave yourselves. Good luck in Burmecia, and we will see each other again one day._

_Your friend._

_Eddward._

Edd finished the last line of his note and stuck it on the throne. He rushed off to the door, and with one last look at his two friends, disappeared through the large passageway.

-----

A few hours later, Eddy jerked his head up from sleep. "Ack... man... I feel like I was hit by a truck." Eddy put a hand to his head, and then glanced around, seeing everyone else asleep. Eddy took it upon himself to wake everyone up by shouting as loudly as possible. That netted him some angry stares, but nothing more.

The regent hopped up to his throne and surveyed the surroundings. "Has anyone seen Duo, Nikki, and Steiner?"

"Nope... sock head just disappeared without telling us." Eddy frowned. "That's not like him. Everyone look for a sticky note!"

"A what?"

"A piece of yellow paper stuck to the wall in an obvious place." Eddy explained.

Ed pointed to the throne. "Found it! Do I win?"

Cid turned around and grabbed the little yellow paper. He jumped down and handed it to Ed and Eddy, who took the liberty of reading the note aloud.

Cid shook his head. "She is a foolish one, that's for sure. We have no choice but to continue on with the plan. There is no time for us to dilly-dally now." Cid stated.

Zidane sighed. "We told her she couldn't go, now she goes where we don't want her. Great."

"Princesses... who needs em?" Eddy stated.

"Can we get on with it?" Freya said.

"Right. Follow me everyone!" Cid said, and walked out of the room back to the elevator. He pressed a secret button, and went all the way down to the bottom floor. When it got to the bottom, he got out and walked over to a mine car looking thing to the left of him.

"This... is the cart that will take you to Dragon's Gate. This gate leads straight to the mist, and from there, you can head to Gizamaluke's Grotto, which leads right to Burmecia."

"Works for me." Zidane said, and hopped in. Everyone else followed suit, and the cart took off with whiplash inducing speeds. At the end of the tunnel, the five heroes jumped out and saw a large gate with thick iron bars rising in front of them. A bit of mist poured from the outside world, signaling they were pretty far down.

Freya took a step forward. "Let's go, there's no time to waste."

All five of the heroes took one last look behind them, and walked out into the vast unknown.

-----End Chapter 10-----

So, yeah, this story isn't DEAD... it's just being updated REALLY slowly.

Coming up in the next chapter. Ed, Eddy, Zidane, Freya, and Vivi discover the power of Chocobos... and Ed's love for chickens. They also meet another person to help them on their journey.

Find out more in the next chapter of FF Eds, "Chocobo Edsanity"

Review, as always... you never know... I may find more motivation somewhere.

KATW, over and out.


	13. Chocobo EDsanity

Kirby ATW here...

Surprised at the updates? Well don't be... four day weekends without projects and the like really get your creative juices flowing. So... sit back and enjoy the "double feature".

Disclaimer: 1st chapter... yep.

-----Chapter 11: Chocobo EDsanity.-----

_So... take five people, two of them humans, one of them a mysterious black mage, one of them a mysterious lance wielder, and the final one a thief with a monkey tail, stick them at the base of a misty continent with massive amounts of distance to traverse, and a short supply of supplies. What do you think you get? Well, Ed and Eddy find themselves in that exact situation right now. The fact had it that Gizamaluke's Grotto was over 250 miles away from Dragon's Gate, and thats a lot more than Ed and Eddy would ever want to walk. Ed tired out around 10 miles. Eddy was pooped around 5. Zidane, Freya, and Vivi were doing relatively fine, however Vivi showed signs of slowing down, and Zidane really didn't prefer walking this much anyways. The five of them all agreed to stop in an open field right next to a rather large rock. Ed and Eddy collapsed on the spot._

"Guys... there's no way Ed and me are going to make it." Eddy moaned.

Ed nodded in approval. "I hurt more than when Sarah tried to make me take a bath."

Zidane frowned. "Eh, it's a long walk. I can't blame ya. Besides, it's almost night-time"

Vivi sat down and gathered up some stray plants. He put them in the middle of where they were sitting and lit them with a fire spell. Ed inched closer, glad to be near something warmer. In the meantime, Freya jumped on top of the rock and surveyed the surroundings. She took note of a forest in the distance and jumped back down next to Eddy, who jumped at the sudden thud next to him.

Freya chuckled a little. "Jumpy little fella, aren't we?"

Eddy frowned. "So what if I am?" he retorted.

Freya sighed. "Don't take it personally." she said. "I'm still impressed you won over me in the festival."

Eddy frowned once more. "What's that supposed to mean? Did you not think I, the great Eddy could do it?"

Freya sat down, placing her lance beside her. "Take it from me. What you did, especially since Zidane tells me you've only been using that thing for a few weeks, is excellent work." She paused. "But you still have a lot to learn about using a lance properly."

Eddy growled. "And you think you know everything?"

"No. But I'm a top ranking Dragoon Knight, one of the best lance-wielders in the land." she responded. "I never said you didn't have potential. I'm just suggesting you try and learn a little from me before you get yourself into something you may not be able to get out of again." Freya stood up again. "I'm willing to teach you a few things if you're willing to learn, but I'm not forcing you to do anything." With that, she walked away, and began talking with Zidane.

Eddy sat there and began to think. "_Who does she think she is telling me off like that. I did perfectly fine on my own, even though Ed and Sock Head did get mortally wounded back there. She doesn't think I can do it does she?"_

Suddenly, Edd's voice floated through Eddy's mind.

"_Oh come now Eddy, its simple if you think about it. I just don't know why you can't get it. I will teach you if you're willing to learn, but I don't know if you even **want** to learn."_

Eddy stood up and jumped up to Freya, who had once again perched herself on top of the rock.

He landed quietly and sat down next to her. "I'm ready to learn. When do we start?" Eddy could have sworn he saw a smile creep across her face. "Tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Ed and Vivi were currently conversing with Zidane about tomorrow as well.

"So, what you're telling me is that the forest Freya spotted is the local Chocobo Forest?" Vivi asked.

Ed scratched his head. "What's a bochico?"

"Chocobo Ed. Cho-co-bo" Zidane corrected. "Its a large bird like animal you can ride. It should help shorten this distance in which we have to travel considerably. The only downside is that they smell... how can I put this... bad."

Ed frowned. "Awww, no making fun of the big bochicos when they aren't around Mr. Whatever your name is."

Zidane rubbed his hand to the back of his neck. "It's... Zidane..."

Vivi stood up. "So its settled. Tomorrow, we go to Chocobo Forest?"

Zidane nodded. "Yep. Lets break out the tents and have a good night sleep."

While Zidane and Ed began setting up tents (with Zidane doing most of the work, since Ed couldn't keep his tents up no matter what he tried.), Vivi sat next to the fire, wondering about Edd, Steiner, and Nikki.

"... good luck out there Duo."

-----Morning-----

_The sun peeked up from the horizon and showed it's face, shining light on the field in which the five heroes were staying. There was no rooster to wake them up in this world. However, a moogle happened to wander by, and noticing the tents, flew up and poked his head into Zidane's tent. Zidane was having a wonderful dream about who knows what, when all of a sudden, he felt something furry right beside of him. Zidane snapped open his eyes, and was met by the inquiring face of said moogle. Zidane didn't know what to do until..._

"...Kupo?"

"**ACK!**"

The moogle shot out of the tent and went on it's way, while Zidane, with bloodshot eyes, stumbled out of his tent and sat down next to the dead fire. Ed, Eddy, Freya, and Vivi had all heard him, and crawled out of their tents as well, to see Zidane sitting there.

He looked up. "Did I mention that I **hate** moogles?" Everyone laughed.

Freya looked on the horizon. "Well, I suppose that since we're all up early, we can get going."

Eddy worked a few kinks out of his neck and back and yawned. "Right... how far is this forest thing again?"

Zidane glanced out again to see the dome like forest in the middle of the field. "Eh, I'd say around ten miles, give or take."

"Give or take?" Eddy groaned. "Here we go again!"

_So off they went... again. Not much changed from the other day, other than the fact that they ran into a few monsters more monsters than normal. Eddy and Freya were working together to take care of some of the tougher ones up high, while Zidane and Ed sliced at the ones down low. Vivi cast spells where and when needed, and they all reached the Chocobo Forest a lot sooner than they expected. Ed rushed in, followed by Eddy, Vivi, Zidane, and finally Freya. They all looked around and found..._

"Where is everything?" Vivi asked.

"What a rip off." Eddy complained.

Zidane looked around. "I can't believe that we came all this way for nothing." he said, frustrated.

Freya turned around, about to step out, but she stopped and smiled. "I wouldn't get too down yet. Here comes a moogle."

Almost on cue, a moogle flew into the forest and landed on a log right near the entrance. Zidane thought there was something familiar about this particular moogle, but he ignored it and walked up to him anyways.

"So, where did all the Chocobos go?" Zidane asked.

The moogle turned to him, but jumped back in surprise. "You're that guy from this morning, kupo!"

Zidane jumped back at hearing that. "And you're that nosy little moogle that woke me up this morning!"

"Nosy?"

"Yeah. What else do you call something that pokes into your tent at sunrise?"

"I dunno, kupo. Maybe CURIOUS?"

"Oh come on!"

"Guys!" Freya interrupted. "This is getting us nowhere."

Vivi stepped forward. "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a Chocobo Mr. Moogle?"

Ed walked over to the moogle and began to poke the red pom-pom thing dangling from his head. "If you can get him to stop poking me, I'll gladly help you, kupo."

Zidane walked over to Ed and began to drag him away, but he just struggled. "Come on Ed, don't touch the little moogle. You don't know where it's been."

"But the red dangley thing!" Ed complained.

Zidane sighed. "Chocobos will be much better for you, I can tell."

"Aww."

The moogle interrupted once again. "Thank you, kupo. Now, to find a chocobo, there are a few things you need. One of them is Gyshal Greens." he said, and pulled out some green stalks covered in dark green leaves. "Chocobos go nuts when they smell this, so just find some tracks outside and hold them up, kupo."

Vivi held onto the greens while the moogle continued. "Now, the second thing you need is a choco-bell, kupo. Just ring this, and it will alert any chocobos of your presence and spark their interest, kupo." Freya took the bell and put it in her pocket. The moogle continued. "All you need then is some love towards the chocobo and I'd say you're set, kupo."

Eddy jumped. "Well, what are we waiting for, lets go try these babies out!" and with that, he ran back out into the field. The four others followed suit and began searching for some tracks in the ground. Finally, Ed tripped and fell, which brought the rest over to him. In the ground where he was lying were some bird like tracks. Each one had four points, three fanning out from one end, and one opposite of the middle point. Ed grinned and chuckled. "I guess I found something, huh?"

Zidane nodded and motioned towards Vivi and Freya. "If you'll do the honors."

_Vivi held up a stalk of greens while Freya rang the bell. A light dinging signaled that the bell was working, while the strange smell of fresh herbs filled the air. Zidane, Ed, and Eddy kept a lookout for anything strange. Finally, after a while, some yellow dots appeared on the horizon, moving very quickly towards the group of five. Vivi began handing out greens to everyone, while Freya pocketed the bell. Eventually, the specks of yellow turned into rough shapes of birds, and got even more detailed. Finally the birds slowed to a stop right next to the group, making various squawking sounds. _

Ed felt something well up inside of him. "Cha... Ch... CHICKENS!" he exclaimed, and ran over to one of the birds. Normally, they would have ran away, but when they saw he had Gyshal Greens in his hands, and stayed put. Ed fed his greens to one of the golden-yellow birds, and began to hug it. "Hug, hug, hug. Aww... so soft and cuddly like mashed potatoes."

_The rest of the group followed suit, feeding each bird a stalk of greens and petting the feathers on the large birds. Eddy took his time, muttering something along the lines of "I hate birds." Zidane and Freya took no time at all in making friends with their picks. Vivi was a little nervous, but after being around the bird for a while, he was fine. Ed was in heaven the whole time. Each bird stood about ten feet tall, and had golden-yellow feathers covering their entire bodies, except for the beak and legs. They looked around, making little "Kweh" sounds now and then, enjoying the love being given by the five warriors. Eventually, Zidane managed to lead the five birds into the forest once again with the help of some leftover greens, and stopped right in front of the moogle. The moogle looked impressed. He jumped down and began 'speaking' with the chocobos. After a while he broke off and went back to converse with the group of five._

"These birds have agreed to help you. I've given each of them a distinct colored collar so you can tell who is who." The moogle said. "I'm also going to give you guys another whistle. All you have to do to call them now is blow the whistle the number of times for the number of chocobos you need, kupo."

Eddy took the whistle from the moogle and pocketed it. "Can we get on with this already? We have some people to save and stuff."

Freya nodded. "Eddy has the right idea. We should all head out right about now." she walked over and hopped up on her chocobo, with a ruby red collar. The rest followed, with Ed on the emerald green collared one, Eddy on the sapphire blue, Vivi on the purple, and Zidane on the amber. The five bid the moogle farewell and took off.

_The good news for Ed, Eddy, and Vivi was that Chocobos had a natural talent for keeping their riders firmly in place as they sped along. Eddy, who was close to terrified from the start, became cool and casual as the wind whipped around him. Ed was constantly latched onto the soft feathers of the so-called "Giant chickens." Vivi had a bumpy start, but he found out that if he grabbed onto the feathers of the neck, he could keep his balance quite easily. The five of them rode off at blazing speeds, as chocobos were naturally fast to begin with. As mid-day turned into dusk, Zidane signaled to the others that they should pull off and make camp for the night. The five of them told their chocobos to slow down, and they did so. They eventually stopped right outside of a marsh for the night, and decided to pitch camp right beside a rather large tree. The chocobos folded up their wings and began to sleep night away, tired from the day of running, and glad to relax. Meanwhile, tents were being assembled. Ed and Eddy put up one, Freya and Zidane put up another, while Vivi, and later on Zidane, put up a third. The five of them said their good-nights and turned in._

_As dusk turned to dawn, something stirred within the tent housing Ed and Eddy. Inside, Eddy tossed and turned in his sleep, bugged by some image that kept resurfacing no matter how far he pushed it down._

_Eddy found himself once again in the shopping area of the Business District. Eddy spun around, looking for the large monster, and upon finding nothing, he relaxed. His break was short lived as he glanced towards the same corner in which Ed and Edd sat, lifeless. Eddy felt himself get tight in the chest, but he told himself to calm down, as Zidane would come and give him the phoenix downs that would save them. But Zidane never came, and Eddy sat there, looking at two empty shells of his friends. Waves of remorse and guilt washed over him, and he broke down and cried._

Eddy shot up from his sleep, panting, and sweating a river. The sound of Ed snoring, rather loudly, filled the background and set him at a level of ease and familiarity. He hit his fist to his chest a few times to calm himself down and slow his breathing. "_Why won't these images just leave me alone?_" he thought to himself. "_That was by far, the creepiest experience I've ever had, but **why won't these thoughts go away?**_" Eddy poked his head out from the tent just as the sun poked its head from over the horizon, and Eddy parked himself on top of a small mound of earth a little ways away from the campsite. More voices from the past floated through his head.

"_Eddy, come and help me! I can't do this on my own."_

"_Eddy! Can you help me butter my toast?"_

"_Dork, stop looking in a mirror for once and watch where you're going!"_

"_Three haired Ed boy, please assist Rolf!"_

"_Dude, why don't you try helping someone for a change?"_

"_Honestly Eddy, sometimes I think you care more about yourself than everyone else."_

"_You're never going to get anywhere in life without your peers. Get your priorities straight man!"_

"_You guys are the best friends money could buy."_

Eddy sighed. _"Maybe everyone was right. Maybe I do care a little too much about myself. Ed and Double-D might have not made it, and had I not been so... greedy, I may never have entered that contest. Still, those two joined me for my safety, and look where it got them."_ he groaned and put his palms to his temples. _"All this thinking is getting me nowhere... I need to talk to sock head as soon as possible."_

As the sun continued to rise, Eddy decided to not wake everyone and explore the marsh. It seemed safe enough, and just a quick inspection of what's inside would satisfy his morning craving for adventure. As Eddy peered through the initial bushes, he came across a wooden bridge set up a few inches above the murky water. Eddy carefully stepped across, testing the strength, and praying that it wouldn't snap under him as he heard the first creak of the boards. A few steps later, and much more sweat lost, he pushed his way through some thick bushes and into some rather tall grass. Eddy thought he had gotten lost, but eventually, he heard a voice. Eddy pushed through the grass, and came across an interesting sight.

He came across a medium sized frog pond, with around 15 to 20 frogs jumping in and out of the water. That wasn't what caught his eye though. Dressed in light red shirt, and white dress type thing with blue pants, along with a chef hat, was the strangest creature Eddy had seen on this world so far. Most notable about this creature was one of the longest red tongues Eddy had seen in his life. As the creature dashed about, diving at frogs, Eddy silently watched from a bush, not knowing whether this thing was friend or foe. The creature he was watching stopped on a bridge to catch it's breath, and Eddy listened in as it began to speak in broken English.

"Quina never catch frog. Quina starve!" it exclaimed, and Eddy, remembering the little reflections he had had that morning, decided to come out and help. _"Hey, nobody is around. It can't damage my reputation"_

Eddy approached, albeit cautiously, and tapped Quina on the shoulder. Quina jumped and spun around, and Eddy backed off a little bit. He mustered up a little courage and spoke. "Hey. Would you... I dunno. Like me to help you catch a frog?"

"Oh, Quina would love that!"

That settled it then. For the next 15 minutes, Eddy tried to catch a frog for this unknown creature that he had met seemingly at random. Finally, mud stained and dirty, he came back with a struggling frog in his hands. Quina gladly accepted the frog, and in what was probably the strangest eating ritual Eddy had ever see, swallowed it.

It took everything Eddy had not to turn green and lose it right there. _"That... is going to scar me for life."_ he thought, and turned away anyways. Finally, after a few minutes, Eddy decided to try and communicate with the thing again.

"So, do you have a name or something?"

"My name Quina. What yours?"

"Err... just call me Eddy."

"Thank you for frog Eddy."

"You're... welcome?" Something within Eddy sparked. It was a good feeling, and just left him feeling happy overall. "So. Where exactly is this place anyways?"

"This is Qu-Marsh, home of Qus'. We eat frogs, but eat many other things."

"So you're like, a food critic or something?"

"Not critic. Quina food adventurer. Quina travel world, eating many foods."

"So where have you been, big guy?"

"Quina have yet to leave marsh. Quina leave someday."

From the distance, the sound of Ed calling for Eddy could be heard. The voice of Freya, Zidane, and Vivi also traveled, and Eddy called out, figuring since they were up, they could leave. Through the bushes crashed Ed headlong into Eddy, who was taken by surprise, and was now out of air.

"Eddy! You're safe! And dirty and icky. Have you been playing in places that aren't made for playing?" Ed rambled.

Zidane rushed over to Ed and began to pull. "Ed, lungs... remember our little talk?"

Slowly, something surfaced in the empty ocean of Ed's mind and found it's way to the brain. "Oh... right." and with that, Ed released Eddy and got up. Eddy nodded towards Zidane and coughed slightly. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Hey Eddy. Who's that?" Vivi asked, pointing at Quina.

Eddy shrugged. "Thats Quina. I found him while doing a little exploring in this marsh."

"Eddy helped Quina catch frog." Quina exclaimed.

"So it is true." came a voice from the bushes. Another Qu that looked sort of like Quina appeared from the plants and stepped into the light. "Quina. I very disappointed in you." All six of them stared at the new Qu, but only Quina seemed the most disappointed.

"Master Quale."

"I have heard enough Quina. Come with me." With that, Quina followed Quale through the grass and disappeared.

Zidane stepped forward. "Well... that was odd."

"Something about those two seemed very familiar, but I can't put my finger on it." Vivi stated

"Whatever. I say we follow them." Eddy said. Everyone turned around and looked at him. "Sure Quina may be quirky and strange, but it would only be like having a second Ed around."

Zidane rolled his eyes. "Alright, your call." With that, the five disappeared into the grass that the two Qu's disappeared into. A very scratchy trip later, they came upon the outskirts of a hut planted in the middle of the marsh. They traveled up the stairs and opened the door.

"And furthermore Quina... oh... hello strange travelers." Quale said.

"You shouldn't do anything to Quina!" Eddy blurted out.

Quale was taken aback. "You have large mouth. Like frog."

Eddy grinned, "Yeah, so? Back home they called me the..."

"... **Frog Mouthed Kid!**" Ed exclaimed.

"Eddy. Quina did bad. Quina need catch own frog." Quina stated.

Eddy thought for a moment. "Hey. You said you were like, a food adventurer person, right? Why not let Quina come along with us? I know we are going to go some cool places in the future."

Quale thought for a moment. "Quina. This could be way for you to visit other Qu-Marshes." He thought for a few more moments. "It is agreed then. Quina will go with you to all Qu-Marshes in world as punishment."

Quina smiled. A rather strange smile, but a smile none-the-less. "Thank you Eddy. Quina be good travel partner."

Eddy felt something well up inside of him again. "Yeah... don't mention it." he said softly.

_As six heroes left the marsh, the sky seemed to turn a little bit brighter. As they came upon fields once again, they noticed they only had five chocobos for six people. It didn't turn out to be a problem however, as Ed and Eddy agreed to ride together on the back of his chocobo, while Quina took Eddy's. With everything packed away, and a new member of the team on board, the five chocobos took off for the 20 miles left over on their journey to Gizamaluke's grotto. Once again, Eddy fell victim to high winds and balance problems, but it didn't bother him much as he clung to Ed's waist. Not 40 minutes later, the six slowed their chocobos to a halt outside a rather large arch. They all dismounted, gathered their equipment, and walked slowly up to the 15 foot, rusted arch above them. Engraved around it were various pictures of bells, and vines, all intricately connected._

Ed was the first to say something. "Whoa... big."

"Yeah. Welcome to Gizamaluke's Grotto everyone." Freya responded.

The six heroes made a final look back, and delved into the darkness.

-----End Chapter 11-----

Ah... I picked on Eddy so much this chapter. Just trying to show that guilt can strike a small change in the greediest of people. And for those of you thinking Freya/Eddy... well, I'm not going to say anything against it. ;)

Coming up next chapter. The six warriors enter the Grotto, and have a little fun with bells as they go along. And what are Steiner, Edd, and Nikki doing? Two battles for the price of one next chapter!

Be sure to read "**_Ask not for Whom the ED Tolls_**", coming to a story near you.

Once again... review, tell me what you think. You may be surprised at what I take into consideration.

KATW, over and out.


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